Raid of Democrat's office a 'dangerous' first, DeLay says

[musette_sf]

(...whilst trolling the Houston Chronicle for the Lay/Skilling happy news, I found this tidbit from Stephen Colbert's biggest fan:))

Raid of Democrat's office a 'dangerous' first, DeLay says
•He backs demand by Hastert, Pelosi that FBI should return seized items to Rep. Jefferson

By GEBE MARTINEZ
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - As he left a meeting of House Republicans Wednesday, Rep. Tom DeLay of Sugar Land sounded like the majority leader of old.

Standing in front of national television cameras, DeLay said it was "incredibly outrageous" that the FBI recently raided the Capitol Hill office of Louisiana Democrat William Jefferson, who is under investigation on bribery allegations.

... "I believe in the Constitution, and people need to understand that no one is above the law," said DeLay, who gave up his leadership post, and will soon give up his House seat, partly because of his own legal problems in Austin and Washington.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/nation/3886819.html

(bwahahahahahahaha! I especially love the part when he says "But there is a very sacred constitutional matter here. If you start a precedent where the executive (branch) can intimidate members of Congress in any way, and certainly by showing up all of a sudden and raiding their congressional office, that's very dangerous to our way of government." What way of gubmint would THAT be, Tommy?)

[rodeodance]

1. i am glad to see this roar on this issue! -if there is a constitutional

issue involved then all the better. Time for Repugs to go irky over the constitution-

[still_one]

9. Pelosi is going bonkers also

screw them all

This was a feloney that was committed, they got a court order, and did everything right

I wish Pelosi would have been more outraged at the illegal wire taps WITHOUT A COURT ORDER!!!

When it affects them, they are concerned about constitutional powers

When it affects us, forget it

[genieroze]

18. Ditto, that's the first thing I thought. It's okay to mess with the people

who pay their salaries but they think they are above the law.

[still_one]

21. It is pretty depressing

[xxqqqzme]

25. exactly - as my grandmother would say

gag on a gnat, swallow a camel.

This bunch of criminals has shredded the Constitution and not one finger is lifted to stop the abuse.

[newspeak]

2. yeah, it's a dangerous first, Delay

and why didn't the FBI raid your office or Cunningham's office? Inquiring minds want to know. Because the executive branch has decided it can pick and choose whose offices they want to invade--can we say partisanship? And yes, it's a very, very DANGEROUS first.

[DBoon]

3. "you sleep with dogs, you wake up with fleas"

Does Delay think that his support for fascism wouldn't come back to bite him?

That the same illegal techniques used against Democrats wouldn't also be used to keep Republicans in line?

I bet some German conservatives thought they could control Hitler, too.

[marmar]

4. Why are reporters quoting DeLay in stories about ethics?

He just doesn't know when to keep his big fat yap shut.

[rd_kent]

5. What is the issue?

They guy took bribe money. Period. The FBI had cause to raid his office. Period. Whats the issue? I dont care if he is a Dem or Repug, you take a bribe, you go down. Period.

[Bridget Burke]

7. There was already plenty of evidence against Jefferson.

But a daring "raid" was more newsorthy than a plain old indictment--see, Democrats are cooks, too!

And--why the FBI? Shouldn't they be busy fighting the War on Terror(tm).

[saigon68]

10. They are cooks-- cooking up some swill like DINO Limpmann

[Claire Beth]

I completely agree!!! n/t

[greenman3610]

20. apparently, this is a big deal

constitutionally, and symbolically.

Those of you that see it as a simple criminal
matter don't get it that there have been lots of
crooks in congress over the years, but this is the
first raid of this type in history.

It is not hard to think of political motivations for this
to be happening at this time.
It is one more step down the road of intimidating the
legislative branch and tightening the executive grip on
power.

[Claire Beth]

6. I look at this entirely different ....

why should congress be treated any differently than you or I? The FBI granted a warrant and obtained one BEFORE searching. I would have a problem with this if they searched without a warrant BUT that is not the case.

[central scrutinizer]

8. hypocrites

It is nice to see that they got each other's backs. Now what about the fucking people you work for jackass - namely the Americans who have had to endure illegal searches and spying in the name of anti-terra. How about showing that you give a shit for the Constitution for us average folks? How about doing your fucking jobs and rein in this out-of-control maladministration?

[yellowcanine]

11. Hmmmm. Now I am suspicious. Since when has Tom Delay cared

about Constitutional niceties? I smell a rat. All these pubbies getting Constitutional religion already.

[primavera]

26. Yeah, but just think of all the skeletons...

... a raid of old Tom's closets would turn up. I can see where the prospect of the FBI going after corrupt congressmen would have him more than a little unsettled.

[fshrink]

12. The operative word here is "first". It ain't no "first".

Our poor constitution as been so trampled upon that it's barely recognizable, aside from the right to bear arms of course. So that by using the word "first" you make a point besides the manifest content of the statement. An artifact typical of the Goebbels emulators like DeLay.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

13. What the fuck is going on with the FBI?

They're raiding congressmens houses, spying on city halls, etc...

[newspeak]

14. as I have said in other threads

this is a power play--the executive branch over congress. The FBI is following the dictates of the executive branch, a branch that may be as corrupt as some in the Congressional branch. It is unprecedented, it is against the Constitution--the separation of power of all branches of government must be maintained. They already raided Jefferson's house, they did not need to raid his office. When the executive branch can pick and chose whose offices can be raided on a whim-maybe for coercion, for blackmail, we are in serious trouble. Congress will follow like puppets to the puppetmasters and it won't matter if their dem or repug. The warrant for the house, yes-the warrant for the office-no.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

15. That's what I was thinking.

I didn't want to say it, but that's what it looks like.

[HuffleClaw]

16. HMMMM, this is REALLY starting to sound like a complete setup

so that when its a REPUBLICAN under the gun...

and delay is most certainly one of the guys who has a LOT to worry about.

[frylock]

17. this is great comedy!!

... "I believe in the Constitution, and people need to understand that no one is above the law," said DeLay

[annabanana]

19. I, for one, welcome the kerfuffle..

The more coverage it gets, the more the whole idea of "Congressional rights and responsibilities" gets airplay. Perhaps the phrase "checks & balances" will get scraped up off the floor and dusted off.

Perhaps somewhere, some inattentive tv borg will scratch his head and think "have I ever heard that phrase before?"

[JPZenger]

22. If you're not accepting bribes...you have nothing to fear

The GOP tells us that if you are not working for Al Qaida, then you have nothing fear from all of the wiretapping, intercepts, email spying and search engine spying that is occurring without warrants.

So, if the Congressman are not taking bribes, they have nothing to fear from a search warrant - by an actual judge after showing probable cause under the constitution.

A congressional office should not be a safe house for hiding your bribes.

[Guaranteed]

23. "I mean, shouldn't they have raided MY office, then??" said

Tommy.

No, he didn't say that. But he should have.

[yellowcanine]

24. "I believe in the Constitution, and people need to understand that no one

one is above the law," said DeLay.

Who knew that Tom DeLay was a comedian?

[AnarchoFreeThinker]

27. that settles it. this is massive.