� Political Death Warrant | Main | Truth Insurance �
September 30, 2005
Conspiracy Theories & Crocodile Tears
It didn't take long for the reaction to DeLay's indictment to stir up emotions. Last night on the news the defensive offensive onslaught was ferocious. An indictment, we were hotly told by DeLay supporters, was exactly the thing needed to get DeLay out of his position. It was as though that and an act of God were the only two things and they were sooner expecting the Rapture.
Color me naive, but I believe that in America, you can have pretty wreckless prosecution, but Grand Juries are something else entirely. Serving on a Grand Jury is something I hope I have an opportunity to do before I leave this place. One day in Providence, RI some guy rambled on about it for an hour as I sat in rapt attention. I seem to recall that in Rhode Island, a Grand Jury consisted of 23 citizens, and that large number meant you were much more likely to bring some intellectual probity into the indictment process. In all, this gent made something generally considered loathesome to be a very special thing indeed. I found myself marvelling at the very structure. And so it is with that in mind that I find it difficult to believe a Grand Jury could be railroaded.
But stranger things have happened.
DeLay's indictment came as a surprise to me, although I'm not particularly sorry to see it come. It is true that Democrats have been sniffing around his toilet for months and that NPR has been particularly shameless in their guilt-by-association tactics. I've defended DeLay on the grounds that if somebody had something on him they should put up or shutup. You can hate somebody for having name-dropping groupies who peddle influence, but you can't blame them and you certainly can't prosecute them. But as I read the indictment, I see a completely different angle and nothing to do with Jack Abramoff.
Tom DeLay is no hero. As Congresscritters go, he is singularly focused on strongarm tactics. As such it would be a good bet that he has presided over more votes split by party than any previous house leader. If there is any word that describes DeLay's leadership, bipartisan is at the bottom of the pack. His actions have even generated theories that the Republican strategy has changed to get a 51% majority and quit arguing their case. The very idea of doing the absolute minimum required to pass sticks in my craw and it is part of my beef with DeLay. He is a man whose ruthless efficiency is reminescent of Harvey Keitel's character in Pulp Fiction, Winston Wolfe. Powerful? Yes. Effective? Yes. Admirable? Nahh.
Is there any legislation this Congress can be proud of? No. Not since McCain Feingold and Sarbanes Oxley has there issued anything from Congress that makes me proud. Instead this has been a Congress that has done nothing inspired. It sits totally in the background while the President takes everything in the face. Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rice and even Scooter Libby have had higher profiles than this Congress. The world has little noted nor long remembered any acts of this practically anonymous body - this Congress of shadows. That is except for DeLay's hammering of opposition into submission, squishing them mercilessly like so many household pests. Where is the sweet reason and light? Dare I say that Congress has been stripped of its representational nature and reduced to a machine of manufactured consent? This is DeLay's doing, and the void is welcome.
As the days roll forward, we will see every type of charge and countercharge, every spin and slanted deconstruction. It's disgraceful already. Will this be the new trial of the century? You bet.
Posted by mbowen at September 30, 2005 07:30 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.visioncircle.org/mt/mt-tb.cgi/4438