Tom DeLay - friend or foe?

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DeLay is going to the Mid east shortly with a message - the Palestinians aren't ready for a Palestinian state. What does this do to Bush's road map? DeLay is putting Bush on notice that he has to pay more attention to his right wing.

Are things happening to the Bush administration beyond the whole Iraqi war mess? Both the House and the Senate have come down strong on the FCC recent decisions about media control - which Bush favored. Will he veto, as threatened? Inquiries into the deliberate manipulations that took this country to a war that the other side has never declared on us are continuing. California is having a gubernatorial recall that has the White House worried, because the results may not be beneficial to them. And now, the Grest Pest is taking his personal message to Israel and the Palestinians.

This started out two and a half years ago with a strong message about loyalty, about sticking together as a team. Now many in the WH not only seem to have their own separate opinions, they're beginning to go public with them. This is hardly a team.

Even the dress code is falling apart.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/25/international/middleeast/25DELA.html?hp

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He's going to lose his redistricting fight here in Deep-in-the-Hearta, mama:

Quote:

Democratic state senators contemplating a walkout to block congressional redistricting might be constitutionally protected from arrest by state police if they flee the Capitol, a lawyer has advised the senators.

Criminal defense attorney Keith Hampton also told the Senate Democratic Caucus that an arrest by a Senate sergeant at arms or a private security agency to force senators to the Senate floor for a vote might be prosecutable as kidnapping under state law.

"And it gets worse than that. If someone in the Legislature directed them to do that, there is the crime of conspiracy to commit aggravated kidnapping," punishable by up to life in prison, Hampton told the Houston Chronicle Thursday.

As redistricting nears death in the current special legislative session, Gov. Rick Perry has signaled that he may call another session as early as next week to try again to pass a bill.

Sen. Mario Gallegos, D-Houston, said he believes 11 of the Senate's 12 Democrats are committed to a walkout if they decide it is necessary to stop redistricting. He said he hopes Perry will back off and not call another special session.

"I know a stalemate when I see one, and I know when Texans have had enough," Gallegos said.

Houston Chronicle

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So, PD, do you really think the Texas dems will be able to make this work? Doesn't this kind of moving around by Tom DeLay actually start to put the WH in a place they may not want to be?

But the trip to the mid east could be definitely harmful. The Arab countries, and apparently many European countries, consider the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to be very important. If DeLay as a one-man delegation of the evangelical Chrisitians is going there with policy. how will the WH react? After all, anyone going over in an official capacity represents the U.S. Meanwhile, Bush is meeting Abbas here today.

Situations are not holding together as tight as it appeared before.

And we still haven't managed to get any kind of allies with real help. Turns out other countries are not as dumb as they were assumed to be. It's called - "what's in it or me?"

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After all, anyone going over in an official capacity represents the U.S.
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DeLay doesn't represent any authority. Don't be concerned about DeLay. Nobody else is. He is the favorite son of the hard Right. They have no power.

Actually, DeLay's antics provide Bush with an opportunity to distance himself from the hard Right. Who is Tom DeLay to say if the Palestinians are ready for statehood? Actually, I agree they're not ready. They keep blowing things up. But, whether they're ready or not, statehood is what they're going to get. Its sort of like forcing a bulb.

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I believe that Tom DeLay does not want to see a Palestinian State emerge. He and the evangelical Christians believe that greater Israel should include the West bank and Gaza.

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AU--
I think you are most likely right about what DeLay and the like-minded want. But, they're not going to get it. Bush has already committed to Palestinian statehood. He has long known what that once-powerful special interest group wants.

They have been swinging in the wind since Reagan left office.

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I think it may be a bit more complicated than that. I don't think Bush is that committed to a Palestinian state, but politically it's probably the safest way for him to go right now. This is a situation that both Europe and the Arab states consider important, and, since we ain't got no friends nowhere (despite all that talk about a vast coalition), and since Blair is in a precarious place himself now, Bush had better do something to make it appear like we have a foreign policy.

But DeLay obviously sees himself as bigger than life, and if he persists in what he's saying on his mid-east trip, it could prove embarrassing. The Bushies have used DeLay when feasible, but they may have created a Frankenstein. One thing else - that position is not friendly to the Israelis now either.

Something else - they've asked James Baker to go over and straighten out Iraq. The question now seems to be - will Bremer report to him? I wonder how long Bremer would last. Baker is not a man who has ever welcomed a second-in-command. Has to be at least third. Iraq, however, is not Florida.

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Quote:

As an evangelical Christian, he is the most prominent member in Washington of the Christian Zionist movement, a formidable bloc of conservative Republicans whose support for Israel is based on biblical interpretations, sometimes putting them to the right of Israeli government. His persistent skepticism about Mr. Bush's peace initiative indicates that the president may yet have to wrestle with his right flank in pursuing a plan that ultimately calls for a Palestinian state.

Bush's peaceful overtones alienate his base. Shocked

Pretty ignorant and stupid of his base to be against peace; this is bad news for November 2004 (although the Arabs and Jews will probably help him out by suddenly and violently attacking each other again).

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Famous Texas exterminators include Tom DeLay and Dale Gribble of "King of the Hill." A bit of Photoshop and, voila:

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I'm not even getting riled up about DeLay and Co. anymore. Between the local (Texas) news and the NYTimes reports, I'm just settin' back and grinnin'. But I love Mamaj's choice of title for this discussion. Yup: mah frain' Tom Dee Lay!

My only fear is that this whole mess may play out before the final countdown to the election.

On the other hand, it's been a boost and a hoot this morning to watch the speed with which Dean can mobilize and get funding from us peons. Since midnight last night (so far) over $110,000 in a race to match the $250,000 Cheney will get Monday at a single fundraiser.

Not to mention the additional publicity Dean gets for all these wonderful shenanigans! Have fun!: http://www.blogforamerica.com

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PDiddie -- They shoulda hired you to fix up those "grim brothers" photos!!

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Tom DeLay - friend or foe?

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