Tom DeLay: "Democrats have no class?"

[johncoby2]

Tom DeLay: “Democrats have no class?”

When I read Tom DeLay’s comment “Democrats have no class” at his going away party in DC, I immediately thought he was referring to my quote about DeLay in a local paper the day before: “What a rotten bastard”. http://galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=a197ebc2dfc55cf2 My comment was not intended for print (so I guess I shouldn’t have said it) and may have been inappropriate. Nevertheless I said it and I am sure DeLay was concerned about my quote as much as he is concerned about the future of the EPA.

I am also confident his hypocritical comment about “class” was not directed towards me, although in this instance I may have deserved it. Notice I said, “may” because my reason for saying “What a rotten bastard” needs some explaining. There are few things worse than someone taking credit for the hard work of others and this is what prompted the comment.

In 2001 Burlington Northern Santa Fe proposed a railroad (The San Jacinto Rail) carrying toxic chemicals skirting the Clear Lake community, a suburb of Houston. This is where I have lived for 18 years. This rail would carry, among other things, ethylene oxide, a very explosive and dangerous chemical. It would have been built only 100 feet from the nearest resident, within 200 feet of a one of a kind training facility for NASA and within 1/4 mile of the nearest elementary school.

This proposal prompted one of my other quotes “What idiot thought of this idea?” To make a long story short, the community fought the proposal and petitioned Houston City Council to file suit. They did. And we won. This victory was with the support from every single elected official in the area from board members of the local Homeowners Associations to United States Congress, except for one, Tom DeLay, Congressman of the area affected. (Actually our State Senator Mike “Missing in Action” Jackson was also an exception.)

Immediately after the community began organizing, the Republican members of the loosely formed group sent a delegation to meet with DeLay and was told he didn’t want to get involved. And he did just that for three years. The community with the support of every other politician, except their own, worked hard over a three-year period and stopped the construction of the rail.

Just after the election in 2004, Mayor Bill White called a press conference and gave DeLay credit for solving the San Jacinto Rail problem by allowing BNSF to use the existing rails owned by Union Pacific instead of building new ones. And DeLay lapped it up like a dog with a bowl of anti freeze.

Little did anyone know this solution was the very solution proposed to DeLay in 2001, and was the very same solution that he “Didn’t want to get involved” with when asked by his own Constituents.

For those of us who took our time and money to fight this stupidity, the idea of a Congressman, or anyone for that matter, turning his back on his Constituents, then years later standing up, having a press conference, and taking credit for our years of hard work was sickening and insulting. What is "classy" about that?

And DeLay wonders why those of us who have worked hard to support and defend our community have harsh words for him.

What a rotten bastard.

--
John R. Cobarruvias
President
Bay Area New Democrats
Houston, TX

[eleny]

1. Tom DeLay and DDT

I'm just now listening to Molly Ivins being interviewed on Air America Radio. She just said that the reason DeLay got into politics is because he was furious that the EPA banned DDT thus harming his extermination business. He has a vendetta against the EPA. He's a zealot in this regard.

[stellanoir]

2. DeLay has no ethics

and no conscience either for that matter. That was a lame assed charge. I haven't yet heard a Dem respond to it which may actually be a good thing. Sometimes it's best not to dignify such comments with a response.

[mahina]

3. What a great post.

Enlightening! At least he is consistantly a rotten bastard.
I appreciate the insightful story, says it ALL.

[kaos]

4. I agree Democrats have no class..

In comments that offended even members of his own party, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean blasted House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on Saturday as a criminal, saying that the top Republican belongs in jail.

"I think Tom Delay ought to go back to Houston, where he can serve his jail sentence down there," Dean told Massachusetts Democrats at their state convention.

Incredibly, in the next breath the top Democrat complained about "this ugly, nasty dialogue that is coming from the right wing of the American Republican Party." Dean's comments drew a sharp rebuke from Rep. Barney Frank, who told the Boston Globe, "That's just wrong."

[jedr]

5. The difference is:

What Dean said is the truth, what DeLay said is slander.

[johncoby2]

6. I don't get it. What's your point?

[kaos]

7. Democrats have no class.

I agree with you,what's your point"?

[johncoby2]

9. Republican's idea of class.....

Sending our troops to war based upon false information

Outing a CIA agent

Creating an energy policy with Ken Lay

Saying "You're either with us or against us" to our allies

Flipping the bird

Telling a United States Senator to "Go fuck yourself"

Allowing a male prostitude that has a fake press ID into the White House multiple times for reasons besides having a press conference.


I could go on and on.

What a bunch of rotten bastards.

[LynnTheDem]

8. PURPLE HEART BANDAIDS!!! PURPLE HEART BANDAIDS!!!

Democrats don't sleep with MULES. Democrats don't stand on corpses to make political hay.

If that's "no class", fine. The "class" displayed by republicans isn't any kind of "class" I want to be enrolled in.

[Swamp Rat]

10. Tom DeLay eats cockroaches

[sandnsea]

11. lol

That's terrific! And he really is a rotten bastard, that sort of thing pisses me off too!