Tom DeLay is a former exterminator and Vietnam draft avoider who has risen in prominence to essentially control the Congress of the United States. His official title is Majority Leader of the House of Representatives. But he is much, much more than that. This demented man, who wanted Clinton impeached because he didn't share DeLay's "Biblical world view," pretty much sets the agenda for our national legislative branch. Along with Dick Cheney, Karl Rove and Antonin Scalia, DeLay runs the American government. These guys just send George W. Bush out to read a script, shake hands and give people nicknames.
Read what Tom DeLay has to say, and then don't vote for ANY Republican. It's the price that even the occasional "reasonable" Republican pays for being in a party that has Tom DeLay setting the national legislative agenda.
Provided by Public Affairs, Publishers of The Hammer: Tom DeLay, God, Money, and the Rise of the Republican Congress, by Lou Dubose and Jan Reid (2004)
The Quotable Tom DeLay
(...)
On the constituency of Democrats:
"Greenpeace, Queer Nation, the National Education Association."
On the political left:
"Their malignant hold over the intellectual life of this country must be exorcised, and men and women who are willing to speak the truth offer our only hope of reclaiming our culture from the grip of a hedonistic, reckless and destructive descent into nihilism."
(...)
On being asked by a federal employee to put out his cigar, because it's against the law to smoke in federal buildings:
"I am the federal government."
On Clinton's military intervention in Bosnia:<br<
"The President now needs to show leadership, consistently and with great clarity, from devising an exit strategy to developing favorable rules of engagement, from defining the criteria of success to detailing the timetables of operations. We have learned the hard way in this country that muddled military missions lacking clear leadership hurt our national credibility while putting our troops in harm's way."
On shutting down the federal government during the 1995 budget conflict:
"Screw the Senate. It's time for all-out war."
(...)
On environmental protection:
"The EPA, the Gestapo of government, pure and simply has been one of the major clawhooks that the government has maintained on the backs of our constituents."
(...)
On why the U.S. became involved in the second war against Iraq:
"Because the rabid environmentalists felt it was more important to jeopardize the lives of our brave American servicemen than risk the death of a single snail darter. The greenies have led us into the crisis in the Middle East. Not only are they responsible for the huge amount of American dependence on foreign oil, but if an open war develops in the sweltering heat of the Saudi Arabian desert, the tragic result will be on their heads."
On policy toward Israel and the Middle East:
"Jesus Christ was a Jew. The Jewish people were God's chosen people. He has a covenant with them. We ought to appreciate that."
On Clinton's expressed regret of slavery in the U.S. during a trip to Africa:
"Here is a flower child with gray hair doing exactly what he did back in the sixties. He is apologizing for the actions of the U.S."
(...)
On the 2000 presidential election:
"You're going to think I'm crazy, but I didn't see this as a tie election. This is something I've been working on for 22 years. I mean, we got it. The Republicans are the majority party in this country."
(...)
On similarities between himself and George W. Bush:
"He may not appreciate this, but I think we're a lot alike. We're both raised in the oil business; we've both had our successes and our failures in business; we've both had rather rowdy young lives; and we've both settled down. We're strong believers, religious guys, family guys, and we both have a little tinge of Texas arrogance." [read them all, if you have the stomach for it]
Oh, and the question in the headline goes for Bush too.
