| Topic: |
Science > Abortion |
| User: |
"james g. keegan jr." |
| Date: |
06 Apr 2005 12:13:41 PM |
| Object: |
Mr. DeLay's pique |
Mr. DeLay's pique
He goes too far in threatening retribution against judges in the Terri
Schiavo case
First published: Wednesday, April 6, 2005
By now, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay ought to be a distant figure,
having slinked out of the sight of a prosecutor back home in Texas who
may yet indict him, and Republican colleagues who should be roundly
embarrassed by him.
But no. Mr. DeLay is as visible as ever and as obnoxious as ever. Last
week he was threatening the federal judges who had so carefully
followed the law in upholding the wishes of Terri Schiavo, as expressed
by her husband, Michael Schiavo, not to be kept alive through
artificial means.
As Ms. Schiavo died last week, freed at last from the center of a
political rumble, most of Mr. DeLay's allies were wise enough and
decent enough to tone down the rhetoric a bit. Not the man known as The
Hammer, though.
The following words from Mr. DeLay are just offensive and revealing
enough to be committed to memory:
"This loss happened because our legal system did not protect the people
who need protection most, and that will change. The time will come for
the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior, but not
today."
Get it, everyone?
Now, Mr. DeLay is by no means the only person in Washington or in
American politics who brings what once was the art of political oratory
to such offensive extremes. That much is all too common -- on the
political right, with Mr. DeLay and company, but on the left as well.
But political speech is almost always protected speech.
The lasting problem with what Mr. DeLay had to say is that it may well
exceed the seemingly limitless boundaries of free speech. Threatening
judges is a crime, remember.
Democrats have been quick to take note of that, of course, as they
condemn Mr. DeLay. But what about the Republicans?
Silence is nonetheless revealing. So what if Mr. DeLay has been
admonished three times by the House Ethics Committee for such
heavy-handed political tactics as trying to pressure a House member to
support a Medicare prescription drug law in exchange for helping the
man's son in a congressional primary election? And who cares if Mr.
DeLay is still under investigation for allegations that he improperly
funneled contributions from a political action committee to the
Republican National Committee? Or that three of his aides have been
indicted in the matter?
Most Republicans will stand by Mr. DeLay for this reason above all: His
hard-line agenda is their agenda. His willingness to upend the rule of
law and inject his own views into the issue of the treatment of Ms.
Schiavo is reflective of their own thinking. In that narrow, rigid
world, Mr. DeLay can say whatever he wants.
Everyone else should at least be forewarned.
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=348364&category=OPINION&newsdate=4/6/2005
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