Say it isn't so, Hammer...

I regret to inform everyone that Rep. Tom DeLay, despite all assurances to the contrary, is a Galactic Scale Hypocrite. I know this comes as a great shock to everyone, but we will get through it together.

From Joe Conason's Column at Salon:

"The time has come that the American people know exactly what their Representatives are doing here in Washington. Are they feeding at the public trough, taking lobbyist-paid vacations, getting wined and dined by special interest groups? Or are they working hard to represent their constituents? The people, the American people, have a right to know...I say the best disinfectant is full disclosure, not isolation."

That populist polemic was delivered on the House floor in November 1995 by well-known reformer Tom DeLay, R-Texas. Now nationally notorious for his own lobbyist-paid luxury trips to Scotland, Russia and South Korea, among other places, where he has been wined and dined by a bewildering variety of special-interest groups, the House majority leader is no longer quite so strict about full disclosure, either. Even the trait often described as his most admirable -- his concern for abused children -- has been tainted by his penchant for backroom influence peddling.

Go read the rest of the column. It's great stuff.

You can search for the quote yourself if you would like. Go to thomas.loc.gov and search for it there in the Congressional Record of the 104th Congress.

Thanks to Salon.com, DavidSirota.com, and Atrios.

Remember though, all of DeLay's problems are caused by the liberal media.

-The Oklahoma Hippy