In the wake of legislative and Cabinet shifts preceding George W. Bush’s second term in office, I, unlike many of my liberal comrades, have attempted to look somewhat optimistically (well, as optimistically as possible) at a strong Republican-controlled Congress, hoping that, despite the conservative majority, our national representatives would unite, as they have frequently pledged to do, in order to look out for the best interests of the people. It didn’t take long for this optimism to be betrayed, however.
Anticipating a possible state indictment of House of Representatives majority whip Tom Delay, House Republicans met behind closed doors, Nov. 17, to abolish a decade-long party rule that required their leadership members to temporarily step down if indicted. Such actions — which were not supported by all Republican representatives — were nothing more than a nauseating attempt to protect Delay, who is being investigated in alleged charges of illegally using corporate money to help Republicans win state legislative races in 2002. In addition, the House Ethics Committee has rebuked Delay for “arm-twisting” and bribing other House members for votes, and is looking into his possible role in gerrymandering Texas Congressional districts to cushion the GOP edge in Congress.
Delay’s campaigning tactics are as misconstrued as his view of this nation’s political and social systems and his far-reaching ideological platform. These numerous accusations, against a man who called money the “lifeblood of politics,” should not come as a surprise.
Having Delay, who is so far to the right that he has called President Bush “liberal” and moderate Democrats “socialists,” as the representative head of the Republican House can be deemed inaccurate at best. To have a Congressional leader whose stubborn and revolutionary views only reach out to a small faction of his party is a major fault in the Republican leadership in Washington. Perhaps House Republicans should reassess whether Delay’s questionable tactics, in addition to his radical and reactionary political platform, make him a worthy and respectable leader in this time of staunch political division.
This is the man who claimed to “be” the federal government, who argued that a woman can take care of the family but it takes a man to provide “stability and structure,” who called Howard Dean a “cruel and extremist demagogue,” a man who has exemplified every sexist, racist, intolerant, homophobic, religiously prejudiced, unsympathetic, and questionably ethical belief and behavior that has plagued this nation’s progress for decades. This is the man who, as a former exterminator before winning the Congressional Texas seat, made it a legislative priority to abolish all environmental regulations, including clean air and clean water laws and restrictions on dangerous chemical pollutants, including DDT.
He has discarded human responsibility for having perverse affects on the environment, calling the global warming theory “laughable” and claiming that “only nature can change the climate. A volcano, for instance.” When asked about current U.S. involvement in Iraq, he publicly blamed the war on environmentalists, arguing that “greenies” are responsible for U.S. dependence on Middle East oil (such a connection confuses this writer, seeing how Iraq supposedly has nothing to do with oil).
This is the man who wanted Clinton impeached not because of an infamous sexual encounter with an intern but because the former President didn’t share Delay’s “Biblical world view.” Delay has said that he seeks to build a “God-centered” nation, pushing countless times to post the Ten Commandments in all school classrooms and saying that Christianity offers “the only reasonable and viable answer to life’s philosophical questions.”
Delay has said that the U.S. should side with Israel in the Middle East because “Jesus Christ was a Jew.” This is the man who claimed that he does not believe “there is a separation of church and state.” (Obviously, Mr. Delay has never read the “Federalist Papers,” in which Thomas Jefferson, one of America’s founders, declares that America’s foundation as a federal democracy must ensure a “wall of separation between church and state.” Now, the “Federalist Papers” can get quite tedious and complicated, but I would hope that this phrase is quite clear, even to a former bug exterminator.)
A recent CBS News Report revealed that Delay’s indictment seems unlikely. Regardless of whether or not the charges goes through, however, Republicans’ willingness to compromise their moral standards in order to protect Delay’s questionably ethical actions show the danger of a strong majority-controlled Republican Congress using their partisan power — not only to implement right-leaning agendas — but to protect their partisan allies and ideological counterparts in the wake of corruption and scandal.
Such unacceptable actions of House Republicans in order to protect a poor, despicable leader reveal that partisan politics have taken precedent over ethical politics, and, regardless of which party is in power, such selfish and inexcusable governing spell trouble for the future of this nation.
Adam Lichtenheld ([email protected]) is a freshman majoring in political science and international relations.
