Houston Democrats

Tom DeLay's actions are riddled with hypocrisy

By Nick Somarakis
Opinion Columnist

What kind of man is U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay? He portrays that he is a moral and ethical man, yet he's gotten scolded three different times late in 2004 by his colleagues in Congress for unethical behavior.

He states that he strongly supports following and enforcing laws, yet he is being investigated for breaking Texas fundraising laws.

He says he believes that government should not interfere in the private lives of citizens, but he pushed through Congress the Schiavo law that interfered in the private lives of a single family in Florida.

He pushed the law affecting Terri Schiavo through Congress to keep her hooked up to machine to keep her alive, but he allowed his father to be denied machines that would have kept him alive.

Notice a pattern? "Dishonest DeLay" is quite the hypocrite. He does whatever he feels is necessary to remain in office, even if it is unethical and immoral.

He paraded the suffering of one woman, Terri Schiavo, and the battle within her family in front of the media for his political gain. The Schiavo fiasco distracted the media and the public from finding out about his unethical behavior. It distracted from the investigation on illegal fundraising in Texas, the three indictments of his and it proved him to be a staunch conservative. Schiavo has since passed away, but DeLay still remains in the legislature in a position of power and leadership in the Republican Party.

DeLay abused power when he used the Federal Aviation Authority to track down the Texas Democrats who left the state over Texas Redistricting. He engaged in shady politics when he made a promise to endorse a Republican congressman's son in exchange for a vote in favor of the Medicare Prescription Bill. He showed himself to be for sale when he held a fundraiser with energy officials while the House and Senate worked on energy legislation.

DeLay's willingness to stoop to the lowest of levels when it comes to politics is one reason people have become disillusioned with the entire process. Whether he is attacking Democrats, making shady deals, getting donations in exchange for legislation, or abusing his power, he has consistently crossed the lines of ethics and moral behavior.

DeLay, a former exterminator, does not deserve to sit in a position of power as a congressman representing the citizens of U.S. House District 22. The people who voted for him ought to be ashamed of voting for such an immoral and unethical person.

DeLay recently threatened retribution to those members of the judiciary who did not allow Congress to interfere in the Schiavo fiasco by stating that the judges would "answer for their behavior." With such an immoral and unethical character, perhaps it's time that DeLay answered for his behavior.