Target of Opportunism (and audiotape of Delay comments from cnn)

[rodeodance]

this reporter must have gotten the information about the Delay Quotes from the Cnn TV report this am where they said they had an audiotape of DeLays talk of last week where he Thought he not being taped.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58466-2005Mar22.html?referrer=email

Target of Opportunism


[e-mail]
By Harold Meyerson
Wednesday, March 23, 2005; Page A15

For Tom DeLay, Terri Schiavo came along just in the nick of time. "One thing that God brought to us is Terri Schiavo, to help elevate the visibility of what is going on in America," DeLay told a group of Christian conservatives last Friday.

And what, exactly, is going on in the United States? "Attacks against the conservative movement, against me and against many others," DeLay told his flock. So God has now thrown in with DeLay in his efforts to pack the House ethics committee with his allies so that he no longer need be the subject of the scrutiny and censure of his peers.,,




.......For George W. Bush, too, Terri Schiavo came along at a propitious time. All is not well in Bushland. The more the American people hear about the president's Social Security scheme, the more they reject it -- lately by margins approaching 2 to 1. The Bush bills that have been moving through Congress -- tightening up bankruptcy regulations, authorizing drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, limiting consumer lawsuits -- do nothing for the Christian conservatives who helped reelect him. Indeed, the whole Bush economic agenda threatens social conservatives of modest means, as it does anyone of modest means. If signing a bill in his pajamas meant he could rekindle their support, why, that was worth even interrupting his sleep.........

[TahitiNut]

1. Demonstrates the moral bankruptcy of using human beings as a means ...

... rather than as an end in themselves. Anyone with even the most preliminary understanding of morality understands this moral condemnation of Mill's utilitarian ethic.

DeLay's corruption and the moral ignorance of his audience are a stench on this nation.

[Dhalgren]

6. I completely agree with you.

If we ever take back control in this country, and reasonable, educated, adults are once more in charge, what will we as a nation have to do to regain our standing in the world? How will we ever attain a position of trust, ever again? "Mending fences" won't be enough. And what of our internal relationships? How can we ever be "one nation" ever again? A lot of people will have to go to prison for their crimes for a lot of years before trust is ever regained...

[TahitiNut]

7. Imprisonment of those guilty of crimes against humanity is essential.

That the 'moral' posture of this nation is, as yet, so far from even contemplating this is just one indication of the magnitude of the appalling corruption.

[mikelgb]

12. A complete, sincere, and immediate...

apology issued officially by the next responsible POTUS to the world community. To the people of Iraq, the UN, and dozens of groups deserve personal apologies and offers of reparations. yikes... it is staggering to think of the enormous task of cleaning up from this administration. I remember back in high school I was supposed to be a member of the class of 2000, the class of the future where we would see advances in society and technology never dreamed of. Then on the cusp of the new year ...it... happened. A tarnished future for all.

[saigon68]

14. delay is one of the most evil beasts in washington

he would prostitute his own mother

[TahitiNut]

17. It sure doesn't indicate much ethical consciousness in Sugarland.

My family has the dubious 'honor' of living in three of the worst Congressional Districts in the U.S. I live in the Michigan 9th, with Joe Knollenberg as one of the Reichbot stormtroopers for DeLay. My aunt and uncle live in J. D. Hayworth's Arizona district. Their daughter, my cousin, and her family live in Duncan Hunter's California district. None of us would contemplate living in DeLay's district - even though we share some of the worst bottom-feeders in Congress.

[saigon68]

19. NO THE WORST BOTTOM FEEDER IS Mark Green (R) 8th WI

A man who has no ethics and has made a fortune of millions for himself through government connections.

He has never really ever had a job either. He is one of those perpetual office seekers.

One who will drop to his knees and service his patrons on demand.

[glennont]

2. Interesting that God now runs messages for Tom

"One thing that God brought to us is Terri Schiavo"

[Dhalgren]

3. Wow! And in the Washington Post, no less!

What does this mean? Are the media allowed, now, to question the Emperor? I am confused...

[missouri dem 2]

11. Looks like to me that the republicans are about to sacrifice delay.

Rat boy has no friends and he will be expendable.

[CottonBear]

4. I heard the CNN report and they played parts of the tape.

Delay says (this may not be an exact quote) "god sent Terri Schiavo to help the conservative movement."

[unhappycamper]

5. has anybody found this tape on the web yet?

It would be nice to listen in the privacy of my home.

[Pirate Smile]

8. They just played it on AAR.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

9. Hell they just reminded sane Americans abortion really is a choice

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[spunky]

10. I heard the excerpts on CNN this morning, then they had some of

their talking heads, the Republican one said that DeLay wasn't making it political by mentioning God, he was making it religious, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Nice arguement except for one thing. . .after making it religious, he went all out to pass a law, which makes the law inspired by religion which, a)makes the Schiavo case political, b)makes the Schiavo case religious, and c)shows that DeLay has no respect for seperation of church and state, and d)makes the law unconstitutional.

You have really got to admire the ability of Republicans to spin things so hard that truth becomes completely unrecognizable. Its terrifying, but sadly brilliant. *sigh*

[Ellen Rose]

15. The real opportunity here is for the Democrats

"In their haste to curry favor with the Christian right, the Republican leaders have run roughshod over some very deeply rooted American -- and conservative -- beliefs. Americans tend to believe in their doctors, and in the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship. They believe in spheres of privacy where the state cannot intrude. There's no more distinctly American belief than the right to be left alone by government. Liberals and conservatives differ over which great causes compel a suspension of that right, but both sides of the spectrum acknowledge it axiomatically.

That places a special burden on advocates for governmental activism in the United States. At a minimum, the consequences that the government's intervention will have on private lives -- and on the principle of the private life -- need to be weighed. And by intervening by fiat in the Schiavo tragedy, at the last minute, from on high, with no serious inspection of the particulars of the case and to clear political ends, the Republicans failed that test abysmally. In that sense, the Schiavo affair looks like their equivalent of what court-ordered busing was to liberals: an act of social engineering that runs counter to Americans' desire for control over their own, and their families', lives.

As with Social Security, the Republicans are now going too far, promoting priorities of party in-groups that don't resonate at all with the larger public. This is classic second-term overreaching, mixed in with the most myopic opportunism. The real opportunity here is for the Democrats, if they have sense enough to realize it."

[e-mail]


I hope the Democrats have the "sense to realize" this opportunity and use it. There should be someone in Democrat-land who can figure out how to use it as a tool to get some change in Congress. That is what we need. Any suggestions?:think:

[calimary]

20. Howard Dean and Nancy Pelosi have started making noise about it.

I think it's being handed to us on a plate - indeed, perhaps God brought Terri Schiavo to the DEMOCRATS. (Hey! Don't knock it. TWO can play at their game, and frankly two better start playing at their game.)

There have been threads here about it - Dean told some local paper in Tennessee, I think, that "Dr." Frist has committed an ethical no-no by offering a diagnosis on a patient by watching some videotape of that patient - something he (Dean) wouldn't want his own doctor to do. And Pelosi issued a statement saying this is a private family issue and the government shouldn't be butting in.

But I think they need to get a lot more forceful about this. Merely issuing statements (as I've heard from my own reps) is NOT ENOUGH. We need to be on the offensive about this. WE need to be managing public opinion by putting the really-and-truly good word out about this. When all people hear is the bombast of the knuckle-draggers, and we have some nice, tidy, polite little statements over here on the side somewhere that generate no heat, make no noise, and attract no attention - how is that a counter-offensive? There are some - no, probably many, here on DU and elsewhere among the progressive community who think it's better for us to sit back and let the bad guys hang themselves. That would be proper with one assumption that DOES NOT HOLD IN THIS CASE - if the media were on OUR side. They aren't. They're part of the problem, NOT part of the solution, because they're so frickin' COWED. You have roughly as many reporters "challenging" any of this, or asking "uncomfortable" or "pointed" or "probing" questions as you have Democrats out there making hay with this in the media. In other words, precious few.

I swear - this IS being handed to us on a plate. We should SEIZE it and RUN with it.

on edit - found the Dean link:

Dean takes jabs at GOP, Frist over Schiavo case

http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/state/article/0,1406,KNS_34...

SNIP..."- Howard Dean, who today makes his first trip to Tennessee as the Democratic National Committee chief, criticized Republicans in general Monday - and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist in particular - for grandstanding on the Terri Schiavo case.

"This is a deeply personal matter and ought to be left up to physicians," Dean said in a telephone conference call with Tennessee reporters.

For Sen. Frist to say he could make a diagnosis based on a videotape is certainly not medically sound," said Dean, who, like Frist, is a physician-politician. "I wouldn't want my doctor making any diagnosis of me on videotape."

Asked how he deals in Tennessee with the perception that he is a "liberal Yankee elitist," Dean replied, "I actually don't believe there is a perception like that.

"It's Republican propaganda," said Dean, adding that he was consistently given an "A" rating by the National Rifle Association as Vermont governor and that he shares Vice President Dick Cheney's views on gay marriage and civil unions.

"If I'm liberal, so is he," said Dean."

DU thread:
Dean takes jabs at GOP, Frist over Schiavo case
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1331104#1331957

[Dogmudgeon]

13. First God brings the Tsunami, now He brings Terri Schiavo

Bastard!

:evilgrin:

--p!

[Kber]

16. Wow. I guess I didn't realize God was such a staunch republican.

Glad DeLay is around to 'splain these things to us.

[alfredo]

18. Remember when Reagan and Rev Wildmon interfered in the treatment

of that girl with spinal bifida? The parents had decided on a course of treatment, but Reagan didn't like it, so him and wildmon engaged them in a long costly legal battle to force them to use the course of treatment they approved of.

All it did was saddle the family of Baby o (I think) with a half million legal bill.

[Moderator]

21. kick to combine

[NightOwwl]

22. Republican Leader Invokes God in Schiavo Battle(DeLay:Terri Gift From God)

Republican Leader Invokes God in Schiavo Battle

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In helping lead the charge to keep brain-damaged Terri Schiavo alive, House of Representatives Majority Leader Tom DeLay has invoked God, diverted attention from his own ethical woes and again become a lightning rod for critics of his party's conservative agenda. DeLay told a conservative Christian group that the Schiavo case was a gift from God for their cause, drawing fresh complaints from Democrats that he was trying to score political points.

"One thing that God has brought to us is Terri Schiavo to elevate the visibility of what's going on in America," the Texan congressman told a meeting of the Family Research Council. Dismissing medical findings that Schiavo is in a "persistent vegetative state," he declared outrage that "Americans would be so barbaric as to pull a feeding tube out of a person that is lucid and starve them to death for two weeks."

DeLay has drawn support from the religious right for opposing abortion and same-sex marriage. he has taken the leading role in U.S. congressional intervention in the case of the 41-year-old woman, whose feeding tube was removed last Friday after years of legal wrangling between family members. DeLay, admonished last year by the House ethics committee for three separate matters, now faces questions about foreign trips funded by outside groups.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=7989245

Rate this Now!!!

[sasquatch]

23. HAND ME THE SNAKES!!

:silly:

[katinmn]

24. Great article!

I noticed the byline is missing. Some Reuter's journalists are protesting the outsourcing of jobs by not adding their bylines.

[Bluebear]

25. And Dr. Rice said the tsunami was a "wonderful opportunity"!

Disgraceful.

[sonicx]

26. Here's a Yahoo link if you want to rate the story

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=584&ncid=584&e=4&u=/nm/20050323/pl_nm/rights_schiavo_politics_dc

[gizmo1979]

27. What about teh little boy in his own

state who they took off life support dispite the mothers wishes.God only brings him middle age white women.

[NashVegas]

28. what a swell guy

..