Reporting on DeLay
Tom DeLay has long been nothing but a liability for his party, so the news of his resignation is welcome, if unsurprising. His departure was probably inevitable, and I never for one second bought the story that his resignation from leadership was "temporary."
Still, there's something in all the reporting of this that bugs me. In story after story, DeLay is referred to as an "unflinching" conservative, or a conservative "stalwart," or some other variation on the same theme. Well excuse me, but isn't this the same Tom DeLay who insisted with a straight face that there was no more fat left to cut in the federal budget? That's what passes for "conservatism" these days?
Back when my political identity was being formed, the primary, defining attribute of conservatism was controlling the size and the price tag of the federal government. Today, people like John McCain, who actually try to keep the budget from doubling every five seconds, are called "moderates" or "mavericks," while Tom DeLay is dubbed an "unflinching" conservative.
In short, the term "conservative" has become just as bereft of meaning as this one. People sometimes wonder why I'm hesitant to refer to myself as a conservative. Well this is why. I'm a proud, Barry Goldwater conservative, but such animals are so scarce these days that they're difficult to label. As Goldwater himself might say, that's too damn bad.
Comments
Ah, the departure of Bush's henchman DeLay reminded me to check back at this place to see what you apologists have to say about the most corrupt government that the United States has ever suffered.
Cheating, lying, stealing, killing, bribes ... that's the Republican way!
Now your buddy Bush, the "conservative", wants to grant amnesty to all the Mexicans who illegally broke into our country, some to work, most to steal and deal drugs. That's what we need more of! That's why education is so important, right! Most of those Mexicans are Ph.D.'s aren't they?
Once they are legally here, I wonder if their children will want to pick lettuce? Probably not. I guess then we'll need more Mexicans!
Wow, conservatism is a great thing!
Cya around, clowns.
Posted by: Bailey Hankins | April 4, 2006 11:34 AM
DeLay is a religious right-wing conservative with the bad meaning of the word. He is also corrupt as many others in the republican party of today. His departure does not change much. The republican party of today remains corrupted.
Posted by: Blue Wind | April 4, 2006 12:12 PM
It seems a terrible thing that religion gets painted with the same brush as someone like DeLay, let alone others who throw around religion as if faith were somehow a weapon with which to beat people over the head.
Posted by: K | April 4, 2006 12:45 PM
It seems a terrible thing that religion gets painted with the same brush as someone like DeLay
You are right, but the Christian right is to be blamed about that. They are misusing tyhe name of religion.
Posted by: Blue Wind | April 4, 2006 12:58 PM
Hmmmmmm....no one but us moonbats weighing in here. I wonder why? [/schadenfreude]
Still, one would think that unless something Really Big was about to come down on Hot Tub Tom's head, he'd have stuck this one out....
Posted by: Jill | April 4, 2006 02:09 PM
unfortunately, what passes for conservatism these days is the extent to which you hew to the Jmaes Dobson-Edward Land-Jerry Falwell-Pat Robertson-religious/fundamentalist extremist way of thinking.
That's what it means to be a conservative in 2006. And that's why DeLay is described as such. And why people like McCain ain't.
Posted by: fred | April 4, 2006 02:51 PM
And why people like McCain ain't.
You are wrong. McCain is also becoming one of them. As I explain here and here
Posted by: Blue Wind | April 4, 2006 03:07 PM
Sorry, Blue, but giving a commencement address at Liberty University does not make one a religious extremist. If you can back up your claim with McCain's voting record or floor speeches that's fine. Otherwise you're basing all this on a single speech, one that hasn't even been delivered yet -- not based on the content of the speech, mind you, but based on its audience.
Sorry, but you'll have to do much, much better than that.
Posted by: BNJ | April 4, 2006 04:27 PM
Barry,
Did you watch Meet the Press last Sunday? Did you see McCain declaring that Flawell is NOT an "agent of intolerance"? Look, I used to like McCain a lot in the past, but he has become a shadow of himself. You are probably right, he is not a "religious extremist", but the way he has been ass-kissing to Bush and to the religious right to get votes in 2008 is pathetic. I have lost completely respect for him.
Posted by: Blue Wind | April 4, 2006 04:47 PM
Well hell, if all you were trying to prove was that he was an "ass-kissing politician," I would have granted you that right off the bat. He joins 99 others in the Senate and 435 in the House. But when you said he was "one of them," I assumed you meant something more sinister.
Posted by: BNJ | April 4, 2006 05:28 PM
i think the point is that McCain is a chameleon.
Posted by: ortho | April 4, 2006 07:53 PM