
 |
|
May 24, 2013
May 22, 2013
John Thorne:
They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman
May 20, 2013
Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?
Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star
The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting
May 13, 2013
Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation
David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church
May 10, 2013
Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be
May 8, 2013
Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas
Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate
Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility
May 6, 2013
May 3, 2013
Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine
April 29, 2013
Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust
Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?
Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA
April 26, 2013
Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty
April 24, 2013
|
| |
Jewish World Review
June 8, 2006
/ 12 Sivan, 5766
DeLay paved way for GOP backlash
By
Jonathan Gurwitz
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Tom DeLay, whose resignation from Congress takes effect Friday, knows as much about the intractable imperium of incumbent politicians and how to undermine it as anyone. For 16 years, he was a Republican outlier, first as a member of the Texas House of Representatives, then as a member of the U.S. House, both dominated by Democrats.
The irony today is that as DeLay's political career comes to an ignoble end, the scandal surrounding his office threatens to bring down the Republican majority in Congress he worked so hard to build.
When DeLay arrived in Austin in 1979, he helped organize a series of conclaves for the small number of GOP legislators to strategize about building a dominant party. The frustration of toiling in the political minority followed DeLay to Washington after his election to Congress in 1984, representing Texas District 22. Time and circumstance were, however, on his side.
When DeLay arrived at the Capitol, the national Democratic Party was more than a decade into a transformation that had abandoned mainstream policies and traditional voting blocs. And in the years that followed, a series of scandals plagued the Democratic leadership.
An ethics scandal forced House Speaker Jim Wright to resign, while allegations of sweetheart investment deals took down Majority Whip Tony Coelho. There was a savings and loan scandal, a House bank scandal and a House post office scandal. Then in 1994, the Justice Department indicted House Ways and Means Chairman Dan Rostenkowski in a check-kiting scandal.
Given this record of scandal and detachment, the results of the 1994 elections shouldn't have been as surprising as they were. The Republican Party, pledging to transform the way Washington did business, gained eight seats to take over the Senate and 54 seats to seize a House majority for the first time in 40 years.
Extraordinary circumstances are required to overcome the extraordinary power of incumbency. In 2004, incumbent members of the U.S. House of Representatives who sought re-election returned to office at a rate of 99 percent. The kind of realignment that took place in 1994 is an extreme rarity in American politics.
In 2006, however, the ingredients exist as they did in 1994 to produce another realignment. There's an unpopular war, with an unpopular president from whom members of his own party are trying to distance themselves. There's a profligate Congress that, despite the exigencies of conflict, can't rein in its wasteful habits.
But more than anything, there's a stench of corruption hanging over Capitol Hill. And while that stench has an increasingly bipartisan odor, the strongest scent still emanates from the office of former Majority Leader DeLay.

Michael Scanlon, DeLay's former press secretary, became a business partner of disgraced lobbyist and admitted felon Jack Abramoff. Scanlon pleaded guilty in November to one count of conspiracy to corrupt political officials.
Tony Rudy, DeLay's former deputy chief of staff who also joined Abramoff, pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy and corruption charges. Rudy's wife founded another consulting firm that did work for Abramoff.
In his plea, Rudy implicated Ed Buckham, DeLay's former chief of staff, as another Abramoff conspirator. Christine DeLay, the congressman's wife, was on the payroll of Buckham's firm, which is now the target of a Justice Department investigation.
So much for changing the way Washington does business.
Given the powerful advantages of incumbency, the precision with which political districts are now drawn to partisan advantage and the potential for Democrats to self-destruct over their own internal squabbles and ethics problems, the odds are still against a significant realignment in Congress in November.
But those odds are becoming increasingly short. And if Republicans do lose their majorities, they can blame Tom DeLay and a detached GOP leadership that completely lost sight of the circumstances and principles that brought them to power in 1994.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Jonathan Gurwitz, a columnist for the San Antonio Express-News, is a co-founder and twice served as Director General of the Future Leaders of the Alliance program at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. In 1986 he was placed on the Foreign Service Register of the U.S. State Department.Comment by clicking here.
Jonathan Gurwitz Archives
© 2005, Jonathan Gurwitz
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Christine Flowers
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
A. Barton Hinkle
Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ch. Krauthammer
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Greg Schwem
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Lenore Skenazy
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Lisa Benson
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
Matt Davies
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Walt Handelsman
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
David Horsey
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Jimmy Margulies
Jack Ohman
Michael Ramirez
Rob Rogers
Drew Sheneman
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Scott Stantis
Danna Summers
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters
Dan Wasserman

Tech Q&A
Mr. Know-It-All
Ask Doctor K
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|