Money and Sanctimony
Ivins, Molly
Small Favors Molly Ivins Money and Sanctimony Meet Tom DeLay, in his new role as the Emily Post of politics. "It is unfortunate in our electoral system, exacerbated by our adversarial media...
...And it was DeLay again who called Justice Anthony Kennedy's work "incredibly outrageous...
...DeLay implausibly claimshedidn't know it was lobby money, even though he was accompanied by the lobbyist...
...Not only do you kick him-you kick him until he passes out, then beat him over the head with a baseball bat, then roll him up in an old rug and throw him off a cliff into the pounding surf below...
...They did what they had to do, but no pol of the old school would add self-righteousness to shady dealing...
...Did someone mention motives in those all-expenses-paid vacations...
...It was DeLay who called the EPA "the Gestapo of government...
...Molly Ivins, co-author of "Bushwhacked," writes in this space every month...
...The old sense of collegiality was strong, and vindictive behavior-punishing pols for partisan reasons-was simply not done...
...Republicans used to get their fair share of power, and liberals sometimes joined them against conservative Democrats...
...The Hammer is not only genuinely feared in Washington, he is, I'm sorry to say, hated...
...Andrews...
...Then there's DeLay's possible violation of Texas's campaign finance law, which is quite a feat, since we only have the one...
...It just so happens that CCA wants the Texas Lege, over which DeLay exercises considerable sway because he's a money conduit, to privatize the prisons...
...For instance, the Corrections Corporation of America made out a check for $100,000 to the DeLay Foundation for Kids...
...But Tom DeLay's not one to get overheated...
...It was DeLay himself who said the judges in the Schiavo case would have to answer for their decisions...
...This would be the same Tom DeLay who said, "Screw the Senate," when he learned Bob Dole had cut a deal with Clinton to end the government shutdown caused by Newt Gingrich...
...He's done this with at least two such charities, Celebrations for Children, Inc., and the DeLay Foundation for Kids...
...Now doing favors for big campaign donors may indeed be an "everybody does it," but using a children's charity as a cover for collecting soft money from special interest groups is over the line...
...Someof the ethics charges against DeLay reflect just plain old-fashioned grubbiness, like letting a lobbyist pay for a fancy hotel in London and a golf trip to St...
...It is unfortunate in our electoral system, exacerbated by our adversarial media culture, that political discourse has to get so overheated that it's not just arguments, but motives are questioned," said DeLay...
...The idea that you were immune from ethical lapses because you had found Jesus did not fly here...
...Even DeLay had to admit he had been "inartful" in expressing himself there...
...And there's the whole nasty and absurd redistricting mess, and the dubious donations to his legal defense fund, and the Indian casino gambling saga, and on and on...
...This guy smells like a slop jar...
...This was before the time when religion was regularly dragged into politics...
...Real Texas politicians were neither hypocritical nor sanctimonious...
...Motives...
...Though many of our pols have the ethical sensitivity ofawalnut,Icategorically reject cultural responsibility for DeLay...
...It was a DeLay staff e-mail that so demurely said, about Clinton's impeachment: "This whole thing about not kicking someone when they are down is BS...
...But don't blame Texas...
...So I feel really good...
...Nor was hyperpartisanship practiced...
...But those are Tom DeLay's specialties, his trademarks...
...To top off his temperate discourse, DeLay keynoted the NRA convention in Houston, where he cheerfully told the audience: "When a man is in trouble or in a good fight, you want to have your friends around, preferably armed...
...Sanctimony stinks in the nostrils of the Lord...
Vol. 69 • June 2005 • No. 6
