National Review: “Get Tom DeLay!”

[paineinthearse]

http://www.nationalreview.com/lowry/lowry200504080806.asp

:puke:

April 08, 2005, 8:06 a.m.
“Get Tom DeLay!”
A Times crusade.

For the old-fashioned, the definition of a "news story" is a story that is new — hence the name. But the newspeople at the newspapers the Washington Post and the New York Times have an updated definition — anything that hurts Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay on any given day. The Times just ran a front-page article reporting that DeLay's wife and daughter receive payments from his political operations. This story might have been news if it hadn't been known for years and been the subject of a detailed report in the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call on May 5, 2003 — meaning the Times did a follow-up 702 days later. And this story might have been scandalous if it weren't for the fact that having family members on the pay-roll is a common, bipartisan practice, accepted as legitimate so long as they actually do work (DeLay's daughter runs his congressional campaigns). This story can only be explained if some editor at the Times is not barking at reporters, "Get news on Tom DeLay!" but instead simply, "Get Tom DeLay!"

The same day as the Times front-pager, the Washington Post ran its own front-page article on a trip DeLay took to Russia that was ostensibly funded by a Washington think tank, but that really might have been funded by a Washington lobbyist, in violation of House rules. This might have been news if that trip hadn't taken place in 1997 and been reported in the National Journal on Feb. 25, 2005 — meaning the Post did a relatively brisk follow-up after 39 days. Most subjects of Washington scandals are undone by the steady accumulation of new allegations. DeLay might be the first brought down by the drip-drip of old allegations.

<snip>

The independent ethics groups that have been decrying DeLay's practices, such as Democracy 21 and Common Cause, are allies in this partisan push. Their contributors are hyper-Democrats like George Soros, and their staffers are often former Democratic politicos. They identify ethical government with Democratic government, and get the cooperation of the press, which would have no use for DeLay even if he were the reincarnation of Mr. Smith. This is why House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi can secure a federal grant for a nonprofit that contributes to her political action committee, as The Washington Times recently reported, and the story barely causes a ripple, let alone gets recycled every 39 days.

The Democratic assault on DeLay is modeled on Newt Gingrich's ethics drive against the Democratic leadership when Republicans were out of power in the early 1990s. That tack proved successful, but because it was combined with a serious intellectual and policy push. That is what's missing from the current Democratic campaign, which is all about DeLay, pure and simple. In fact, the Democrats have taken to charging that the House is being distracted from its policy work because of the DeLay controversy of their making. This amounts to saying: "Stop us before we attack Tom DeLay again!" Of course, the substantive bankruptcy of the congressional Democratic minority is not news — however you define the term.

— Rich Lowry is author of Legacy: Paying the Price for the Clinton Years.

[Bob3]

1. RW Gibberish - Tom is doing a fine job of getting himself

N?T

[pnorman]

2. One would thereby think that there was nothing

pointing to DeLay, other than a stained blue dress or something. Those bozos know better, and are just short of going into a state of PANIC. Just stand back, and smile at their discomfort.

"Stained blue dress" ... I wonder what similarly descriptive phrase will cling to the Reptilicans, in the aftermath of Gannongate?

pnorman
On edit: I had a few DeLay links squirreled away, but couldn't find them at the time. Here's one I did find a bit later: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/04/08/scandals/

[Inland]

3. Another apologist for corruption, as long as its Republican corruption

Yes, its a standard practice to have family on the payroll, as long as they do work----

leaving out that the wife and daughter got over ONE-HALF MILLION DOLLARS over four years to DO PRACTICALLY NOTHING.

Having left out the fact there is an actual corrupt means to pay off Delay with political contributions, and all the junkets, and every other proven scandalous corrupt practice, it's really easy to come to a conclusion that it's all political.

And from a guy who wrote a book about Clinton scandals. I bet that book didn't actually ask whether the alleged corruption actually occured for Clinton or not, either. It doesn't matter. It's all about scoring media points. Disgusting.

[Lord_StarFyre]

4. Rich Lowry is such a festering Hypocrite

All that Bullshit in one article, decrying partisan attempts to unseat someone of the opposing party.

Then, in an almost transparent "tagline" on this steaming pile is this little nugget

"Rich Lowry is author of Legacy: Paying the Price for the Clinton Years"

Hey Rich, Goose, Gander... Need we say more

[holboz]

7. Exactly...

It makes me ill to see the Repukes trying to poo-poo their wrongdoings in such a pathetic manner.

Maybe we should tell Rich that what is going on with DeLay is an INVESTIGATION, and what is coming to light with this investigation is the NEWS. Jeez, I didn't even go to journalism school and I can figure that much out.

Just in case Rich can't figure it out, this situation is sort of like the Repukes celebrated anything that Kenneth Starr could dig up regarding the White Water real estate deal involving the Clintons, a deal that took place nearly 20 YEARS before Clinton became president.

Only in this case there is actually something worth investigating.

[Patiod]

5. I bet he said the same thing about "hyper Republican"

Richard Mellon Scaife's campaign to malign Clinton in his book about paying the price for the Clinton years.

Oh, he didn't? Sorry, my mistake.

[Beetwasher]

6. Zing!

Indeed..:thumbsup:

[JPZenger]

8. I Want Delay to Stay

Delay is just a great embarrassment to the GOP, that I don't want him to resign. I don't want to see him replaced with someone who would have the appearance of being more reasonable. I want to see the GOP keep their wounded ethicly challenged leader in place, with scandals released on a regular basis. Pass the popcorn and watch the fun.

[Jack Rabbit]

9. Anybody defending DeLay like this is making a mistake

The Democratic assault on DeLay is modeled on Newt Gingrich's ethics drive against the Democratic leadership when Republicans were out of power in the early 1990s.

Mr. Lowry's defense of DeLay is modeled after the defense of Nixon during the Watergate investigation. It was true that a lot of people wanted to get him, but that did not mean there weren't good reasons for him to have been had.

Like Nixon, DeLay is going down. He is going down and, again like Nixon, he has no one to blame but himself.

It won't do them any good to blame the mythical "liberal media"; it didn't exist in 1974 and nowadays the mainstream media too often looks like the GOP's privatized Pravda for that to have any credibility. They'll look silly trying to take the high road defeding DeLay for real ethics violations after spinning Clinton's tacky tryst into a constitutional crisis.

As was Nixon, Tom DeLay is being investigated for serious ethical lapses. If they want to say he deserves a fair trial, fine and well; I agree. If they want to try to paint this as a liberal vendetta, they're nuts; while it could be that, the Democrats aren't just making this up. Watergate wasn't made up, either.

After defending Nixon and being made to look silly for doing so, the Republicans went down. It would be a mistake for them to rally around Tom DeLay. He isn't worth the loss of dozens of House seats.