Conservatives quit board over DeLay appointment
WASHINGTON ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ As Tom DeLay pursues a return to the public stage, he’s meeting resistance from an unexpected source: conservatives who say that he betrayed the movement as a congressional leader. Four board members of the American Conservative Union, one of the oldest and best established voices of the conservative movement, resigned recently when DeLay was brought onto the board. DeLay’s roles in ramping up government spending and establishing a system of raising money through close dealings with lobbyists were cited by resigning members as their motive for moving on.
Just when I’d managed to convince myself that Conservatives are willing to do anything- tell any lie, spread any propaganda, engage in any underhanded behavior- in order to seize and maintain political power, four board members of the American Conservative Union have demonstrated that, yes, even Conservatives have a conscience…or something resembling one.
Robert Luddy, Tom Pauken, Craig Shirley, and Marc Rotterman…I salute you. Not for your “I-got-mine-you-get-your-own”, self-absorbed, White Christians uber Alles politics. Not for your support of the pointless, senseless war in Iraq. And certainly not for your failure to recognize that to whom much is given, much is expected. No, I salute you for demonstrating that even some Conservatives still retain the ability to tell right from wrong, to recognize when one of their own has become a joke, a parody of all that you hold holy, even though he claims to still be a faithful bedrock Conservative.
I should also point out that Luddy, Pauken, Shirley, and Rotterman are but four members of a 33-member strong board. Yes, 12% is hardly an endorsement of the assertion that Conservatives have the ability to recognize right from wrong, but it’s certainly better than nothing. The ACU Four represent the truth that Conservatism doesn’t have to be the self-absorbed, mean-spirited political philosophy it all too often is today.
The ACU Four should be applauded for at least have enough of a functional conscience to recognize that having Tom DeLay on the ACU board sends exactly the WRONG message. Would that more board members had the moral fiber to do the same. Then again, these ARE Conservatives we’re talking about here….
DeLay, the former U.S. House majority leader from Sugar Land, joined the ACU board in February, after lengthy negotiations with the influential group concerning his role, said chairman David Keene.
Keene said he understood there would be some trepidation in conservative ranks about forging a relationship with DeLay. But he said the positives DeLay offered in terms of contacts and experience outweighed misgivings.
Sure, he’s a corrupt, immoral, and unethical DUMB@$$, but he’s OUR DUMB@$$…and he did rule Washington for many years. Clearly, Tom DeLay is a man who knows where the bodies are buried.
“When I introduced him (to ACU members) I said that, like a number of Republicans, Tom had done some work on the dark side,” Keene recalled. “Now, he wants to harness his abilities for our agenda.”
Jeebus, people…are we introducing Darth Vader here??
Come to the Dark Side….
Keene said he has no second thoughts about keeping DeLay on the 33-member board, which receives no pay.
“Who can you think of better than Tom DeLay to be sitting in the room when you are setting priorities with Congress?” he asked.
Right…who better to demonstrate that the ends justify the means, that morals and ethics are for losers, that a functional conscience is merely an impediment to achieving the goals set forth in your agenda, that Conservatives revere results above all else, and that wrapping yourself and your agenda in flag and faith is a perfectly acceptable means of doing business? Who better to demonstrate that Conservatives are willing to trample anyone, anything, and any law or moral stricture if it gets them closer to imposing their narrow, hate-based agenda on Americans who haven’t yet “seen the Light”? What a collection of (&^%$#@ trolls….
Robert Luddy, Tom Pauken, Craig Shirley, and Marc Rotterman should be applauded for recognizing that the pursuit of a political agenda cannot and should trump simple human decency. If Conservatives in general, and the American Conservative Union in particular, still view Tom DeLay as a legitimate carrier of the Conservative flame, then Conservative ideology is in even more trouble than I’d previously suspected. Man, these folks really ARE DUMB@$$E$….
