Spring Break
The epitome of conservative corruption
Editorial
Issue date: 4/7/05 Section: Opinion
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Maybe the use of this particular phrase is common among fundamentalist conservatives; President Bush told terrorists to "bring it on," but was forced to apologize sheepishly for the challenge after four years of Osama bin Laden on the lam and two years of U.S. occupation in Iraq have failed to give Americans the security that was promised.
Of the "leftist organizations" - including labor groups and civil rights leaders - that have pledged $100,000 to a television campaign highlighting DeLay's corrupt actions and ties, the majority leader said the advertisements "say more about the critics than it does about me." Of course they do. The ads only tell the truth about DeLay and the shady funding of several of his trips in the past 10 years, but they speak volumes to how much more those critics care about the morals of moralistic Congressmen than those Congressmen themselves.
This situation illustrates well the infiltration of hypocrisy in the surging GOP establishment. As the more moderate Republicans paled at legislative interference in the Schiavo drama - a matter that should have been reserved for the Florida courts - the hard-line base, led by the president, plowed right ahead, dropping momentarily the usually ravenous Republican preoccupation with states' rights. And though Russian investment lobbyists paid for DeLay's Russian trip, South Korean investment lobbyists paid for DeLay's South Korean trip and Native American gambling officials paid for DeLay's United Kingdom trip, Republicans still rally behind their poster boy. Republicans are convinced that women cannot be trusted with control of their bodies, but DeLay is perfectly trustworthy as regards the unethical funding of $100,000 vacations abroad.
Of the "leftist organizations" - including labor groups and civil rights leaders - that have pledged $100,000 to a television campaign highlighting DeLay's corrupt actions and ties, the majority leader said the advertisements "say more about the critics than it does about me." Of course they do. The ads only tell the truth about DeLay and the shady funding of several of his trips in the past 10 years, but they speak volumes to how much more those critics care about the morals of moralistic Congressmen than those Congressmen themselves.
This situation illustrates well the infiltration of hypocrisy in the surging GOP establishment. As the more moderate Republicans paled at legislative interference in the Schiavo drama - a matter that should have been reserved for the Florida courts - the hard-line base, led by the president, plowed right ahead, dropping momentarily the usually ravenous Republican preoccupation with states' rights. And though Russian investment lobbyists paid for DeLay's Russian trip, South Korean investment lobbyists paid for DeLay's South Korean trip and Native American gambling officials paid for DeLay's United Kingdom trip, Republicans still rally behind their poster boy. Republicans are convinced that women cannot be trusted with control of their bodies, but DeLay is perfectly trustworthy as regards the unethical funding of $100,000 vacations abroad.
