I Am The GOP

Remember this gem?

[A May, 2003 dinner] was organized by the [Majority Leaders's] daughter and campaign manager, Danielle DeLay Ferro, as a fundraiser for Armpac, Delay's political action committee, at Ruth's Chris Steak House on Ninth Street NW. But because the restaurant leases space in a building owned by a federal agency -- in this case, the Smithsonian Institution -- the law forbids smoking. The prohibition is posted on numerous signs inside and outside the restaurant.

But after the main course, DeLay went into "hammer" mode, trying to compel manager Tom Khandker to flout federal regulations and lift the ban. We hear the conversation went something like this:

Khandker: "I'm sorry, sir, but this is a federal building, and it's against the law of the federal government."

DeLay: "I am the federal government."

The House Dems, now that their spine infusion surgery has proven successful, are finally taking the GOP and Tom DeLay to task for all his ethical problems. Here's Minority Leader Pelosi:

Mr. DeLay has proven himself to be ethically unfit to lead his party. The burden now falls upon his fellow House Republicans.

Republicans must answer - do they want an ethically unfit person to be their majority leader, or do they want to remove the ethical cloud that hangs over the Capitol?

DeLay just got his second slap on the wrist from the GOP-run House in a week, but somehow this story isn't hitting the SCLM's radar screen in a big way. Fortunately we have The Stakeholder, which has the full scoop.

As Atrios says, reward good behavior and donate to the DCCC so we can help Pelosi become Majority Leader¹.

ntodd

1 - Long-time readers probably know how hard it was for me to type that. I'm a firm believer in split government, and as I told Atrios yesterday in an e-mail exchange, I would much rather have a GOP House and Dem Senate than give total control of Congress to the Dems. However, DeLay must be stopped at all costs, and I'm willing to let the Democrats have total rule for a couple years if that's what it takes to get rid of this paragon of GOP ethics. Anywayz, I just gave 50 bucks, damn it.