DeLay Apologizes for Schiavo Case Rhetoric

[Pirate Smile]

DeLay Apologizes for Schiavo Case Rhetoric

By DAVID ESPO
The Associated Press
Wednesday, April 13, 2005; 6:44 PM

WASHINGTON - House Majority Leader Tom DeLay apologized Wednesday for using overheated rhetoric on the day Terri Schiavo died, but refused to say whether he supports impeachment of the judges who ruled in her case.

DeLay backtracked as White House spokesman Scott McClellan said President Bush considers the Texas Republican, who is battling ethics allegations, a friend, but suggested that the majority leader is more of a business associate than a social pal.

"I think there are different levels of friendship with anybody," McClellan said.

At a crowded news conference in his Capitol office, DeLay addressed remarks he made in the hours after the brain-damaged Florida woman died on March 31. "I said something in an inartful way and I shouldn't have said it that way and I apologize for saying it that way," DeLay told reporters.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51026-2005Apr13.html

[Horse with no Name]

1. Scarecrow to Dorothy (Wizard of Oz)

"I'm afraid of a lighted match"

Delay lit the match and now he has reason to fear it.

[Pithy Cherub]

39. He waded into the oil slick whith high octane rhetoric

after bathing in $3.00 a gallon cheap gas. Yep, Delay the Wicked Wizard of the West has reason to fear a lit match...

:popcorn:

[FizzFuzz]

2. I don't believe he is capable of sincere apology

This is just self serving cover your ass bullshit in my opinion.

[gratuitous]

34. I don't buy it for a second, either

But the fact that he felt the need to apologize in any form shows that he's beginning to ship a little water. Keep handing him anchors.

[FizzFuzz]

37. nah, it was only an "apology" of convenience

just to get the critics off his back. And I agree with some other people here saying it was only an apology for choice of words.

Kind of like, "OK, I'm sorry you critics aren't as smart as me"

Interesting what other folks here are saying about the Newt/power connection too. verrry interesting.

God I hate these monsters.

[drduffy]

41. Anybody who...

doesn't see all that Delay does (and all that many others do) as simply calculated is simply deluded. To imagine any ethics, or that an internalized sense of right and wrong play any role in what the republican powers do is just silly.

I also say, don't forget Frist.....he is also a huge threat to decency.

[FizzFuzz]

51. agreed--and Welcome to DU, btw

:wave: :D

anyway, yes the mendacity and calculated self-serving manipulations and just plain EVIIIIILLLLLL---it boggles the mind. All of 'em the whole evil bunch.

Frist. Ughhh. :scared:

[Bake]

3. Nice try, Bugman! Too little too late.

And nothing more than attempted spin based on your tanking poll numbers, and the loneliness you feel out there on the limb now that your Puke pals have distanced themselves from you!

"... and they all moved away from me on the bench!"
Arlo Guthrie, "Alice's Restaurant Massacree"

Bake

[ET Awful]

9. LMAO . . . I mean . . . I'm sittin' here on the Group W bench :)

Buahahaha.

[ET Awful]

4. Different levels of friendship? I guess in the mind of Repukes, you have

friends who you support through thick and thin (i.e. those from whom you stand to gain something), and those who you just let hang themselves (i.e. those who have served their purpose and are no longer beneficial to you).

[Rush1184]

5. A republican apologizing? Is he feeling ok?

or is he just trying to look like less of an ass...


I'll take the later

[Scairp]

22. You call that an apology?

If I call someone a piece of shit, but then apologize, because what I really meant to say was that they are very reminiscent of human excrement, is that an apology? Only in the fucked up world of assholes like this creep Delay.

[Rose Siding]

27. He just shut down his pressers to questions about his "personal case"

snip>
DeLay told reporters the controversy has not slowed Congress' work at all. He also served notice he no longer intends to answer questions about his personal case at his weekly news conferences.

He said he would continue to hold news conferences, "but only if everyone is here for the intended purpose" of asking about the Republican legislative agenda.
--------------------

Not a SINGLE reporter should show up to ask about anything BUT his "personal case"! He can't tell a free press what to questions to ask!

[TahitiNut]

31. Exactly. He "apologized" for the words he used to say what he still means.

The man is a total slimeball and the presstitutes just keep spreading their cheeks by calling it an apology. It's not. Not even close. Not even under the rules of horseshoes or nuclear war is it close.

[dave29]

6. The hammer is velvet

after all.

[LiviaOlivia]

Too little. Too late. Makes no difference thief!

evil fucker.

[Avalux]

7. Blah blah blah.....by the way - is "inartful" a word?

I don't think it is, Tom. Takin' lessons from Georgie, huh? :rofl:

[Lautremont]

17. I don't think it's a real word either.

"Inartistically" is a word. "Inartful"? Nah.

[Carolab]

48. Artless. n/t

[Canuckistanian]

8. Bzzzzzzt! Too late! But thanks for playing, Tom

And now, stay tuned for... Let's Make a Felony!

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

10. What's that we smell, sports fans?

Flop sweat. The ineffable stink of fear.

In this case, a loverly aroma indeed.

Keep flailing, Buggy. Keep it up. More fun than watching a monkey fuck a bowling ball.

:popcorn:

[Career Prole]

11. The real headline on this article should be...

Bush Distances Himself From DeLay

[July]

50. Bingo!

Bush is some friend, ain't he? Remember "Mr. Lay," another guy Bush barely knew? He thinks nothing of disowning people once their usefulness is compromised. (Not to mention cutting funds to groups he's having photo ops with.)

I can easily imagine him saying, "Jeb? I know that name, let me think."

[Hand]

78. In the words of Richard Nixon...

"We'll leave him twisting slowly, slowly, in the wind." I guess ol' D.D.T. Bugmeister failed to learn the lessons of the past, which is a good thing...

:popcorn:

[AuntiBush]

12. Apology NOT ACCEPTED!

Though his wickedness does aide our party immensely. Still, he's a ReThugLican on his way OUT! Now, how many more are left...

:patriot:

[Ilsa]

13. The Cockroach misspoke?

Sounds like he still means what he said, but he wishes he hadn't said it that way. But he still is all for retribution against judges when you don't like their rulings. Just tell everyone that the judge was being political, and you're off the hook for acts of revenge.

[davidinalameda]

14. bye Tom!

ain't been nice knowing ya!

[powergirl]

15. UHHH, SINCE I'M BEING EXPOSED FOR THE PIECE OF TRASH THAT I AM

I need to reword my remarks to make me more likable. He just got busted and he is back pedaling. He is scrambling like a wounded animal. I hope this is a sign that he is going DOWN! :hi:

[rzemanfl]

16. Well if DeLay was a "business associate" what was Ken Lay?

What level of friend is Prince Bandar?

[kainah]

18. step 1 and 2 accomplished

Step One -- apologize for public consumption
Step Two -- say you won't answer any more questions
Step Three -- if you're a repug in George Bush's America, the media shuts up.

The most significant paragraph in this article is probably the last (big surprise):

He said he would continue to hold news conferences, "but only if everyone is here for the intended purpose" of asking about the Republican legislative agenda.

[Mz Pip]

19. He's only "sorry"

because his rhetoric backfired. He offended enough of the people who he needs to feel the need to retreat and coer his fat porky ass.

So now Bush considers DeLay more of a business associate than a social pal. And this is a good thing? Haiving DeLay as a business associate is just as troubling.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[Neshanic]

20. That pest control job ain't looking too bad now is it now Tom?

"Ya see what ya got here is different levels of bug infestation."

[Fire Walk With Me]

21. That's no apology

It's a way of saying "I wish I had conveyed the content in a manner which wouldn't have gotten me caught".

"I said something in an inartful way and I shouldn't have said it that way and I apologize for saying it that way,"

He's hitting himself on the head for HOW he said it, not THAT he said it (and that he MEANT it).

[Rose Siding]

23. "We set up the courts. We can unset the courts...."

Yesterday, Justices Kennedy and Scalia asked for an increased budget for SECURITY.....

snip>
"We set up the courts. We can unset the courts. We have the power of the purse," DeLay said.

Asked whether he favors impeachment for any of the judges in the Schiavo case, he did not answer directly.

Instead, he referred reporters to an earlier request he made to the House Judiciary Committee to look into "judicial activism" and Schiavo's case in particular.
:popcorn:

[Erika]

40. His response continues his arrogance

He's learned nothing from trying to insert the GOP will into private family matters.

[Roland99]

24. Rove slappin' ol' Tommy-Boy around?

[Beetwasher]

25. How's that feel goin' down Tommy?

Was it all one piece?

[DrZeeLit]

26. Mom always said the LIE after the deed was ALWAYS worse than the deed.

My husband calls it "riding backwards on the horse, using brush to wipe away the footprints." Well, you get my drift.

COVERING YOUR SIX O'CLOCK!


He is sooooooo going down.
POND SCUM at least has a function.

[David Zephyr]

28. The "nicest" animal in the jungle is the lion with wounded paws.

DeLay's apology is a bad plug in a treadless tire. He's toast.

As I wrote the other night, we need Tom DeLay to kick around.

[Bake]

49. The longer he twists in the wind

The better it is for us. Stick around, Tom, and keep on shooting off your mouth. Every time you say ANYTHING, these days at least, we win. Personally, I don't WANT The Bugman to go down just yet -- we can use him as the Poster Boy for Puke hubris/arrogance/hypocrisy.

Bake

[in_cog_ni_to]

29. Yeah right. I believe you, Bugman.

NOT. :eyes:

[0007]

30. The Tom DeLay War Room tactic to use a word "inartful"

as a legitimate part of the English language is a slam to intelligent people.

[AlinPA]

32. The media will be kissing the slime's shoes by this time next week.

[Rose Siding]

33. NYT's rpt represents him as being more combative

WASHINGTON, April 13- The House majority leader, Tom DeLay, deflected all questions about his ethical conduct and his political future at a news conference today, insisting instead that he would continue his crusade against what he views an activist judiciary by ordering the Judiciary Committee to investigate the decisions of federal judges in the Terri Schiavo case.

At the crowded news conference - his first question-and-answer session with reporters since a fellow Republican, Representative Christopher Shays of Connecticut, called for him to resign his leadership post and another, Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, said Mr. DeLay must provide explanations to the public - the majority leader dismissed questions about ethics and his political future.

"I'm not here to discuss the Democrats' agenda," Mr. DeLay said. Instead, he renewed his complaints about "judicial activism," saying that reining in the courts was well within the purview of Congress.

http://nytimes.com/2005/04/13/politics/13cnd-delay.html?hp&ex=1113451200&en=92f66b9ac0c9bd25&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[KoKo]

44. Guess WaPo has more folks friendly to Delay. But since NYT's in

general has the "ear" of the Bushies...I figure they know Bush wants him brought down because he's a liability and WaPo is straddling the fence. :shrug:

I question everything I read in both papers now always figuring it's some kind of propaganda put out by the Bushies. :-(

[TexasSissy]

35. He just apologized for the WAY he said it. Not WHAT he said.

I guess that's as much as you can expect from a scumbag.

[cookiebird]

36. apology of convenience

actually. He's quite capable of a blushing "my bad" if it diffuses the MSM from his own problems. I think he's gonna give us quite a show over the next few days.

[nookiemonster]

38. I'm sorry......err....I got caught.

n/t

[truthisfreedom]

42. this schmuck waded out into the quicksand, thrashed around like a madman

for a couple of weeks, and is finally looking around for a rope?

he's toast. he's such incredible toast... and he doesn't even know it.

[banana republican]

43. Appology *NOT* Accepted. n/t

[ignatius 2]

45. Screw you Delay,you low life greaseball. In a perfect

world you'd be cleaning toilets after NBA games.

[mopinko]

46. good candidate for

le show's apology of the week.

[ngGale]

47. You are still going down - DeLay - the apology is so...

dishonest and transparent. DeLay is dragging down his own party and they are going send him back home. To OZ! Click the heels of the red shoes, Tom!

[Massachusetts]

52. Again, overuse of the Diazinon (pesticide), made him do it!

He couldn't help himself.....

I'd love to see a picture of Delay "the early years" all gussied up in his bug killer gear, ready for ACTION.

[Richardo]

53. Not sorry for saying it - sorry for saying it THAT WAY.

Slimebag extortionist.

[Moderator]

54. kick to combine

[silvermachine]

55. DeLay apologizes for Schiavo rhetoric

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7500988/

Includes this misleading passage:

<DeLay seemed at pains to soften, if slightly, his rhetoric of March 31, when Schiavo died despite an extraordinary political and legal effort to save her life.>

It was a political and legal battle to be sure, but to imply that one side was trying to kill her while the other was trying to save her is bullshit.
I guess I should expect this from the AP.
I emailed MSNBC to let them know how I felt about this, for all the good it will do...

[TlalocW]

56. Bye-bye, Delay

Interesting tidbits in the article - the president's press secretary says that Chimpy views Delay more as a business associate than a pal even though they're friends. And just the fact that Tom is apologizing, which is something he's never done before, is telling. He's in deeper doo-doo than he cares to admit.

TlalocW

[rodeodance]

57. DeLay Apologizes for Comments

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51284-2005Apr13.html?referrer=email

DeLay Apologizes for Comments
Leader Wouldn't Say Whether He Wants Schiavo Judges Impeached

By Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 14, 2005; Page A05

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) apologized yesterday for heated comments he made about possible retribution against federal judges for their handling of the Terri Schiavo case, but declined to say whether he favors impeaching those judges.

DeLay created a furor last month by saying that "the time will come" for federal judges who refused to restore the brain-damaged Florida woman's feeding tube "to answer for their behavior," and by criticizing what he called an "arrogant, out-of-control, unaccountable judiciary." President Bush, Vice President Cheney and other top Republican leaders did not endorse those statements and said they support an independent federal judiciary.
DeLay addressed his earlier comments during a crowded news conference at the Capitol. "I said something in an inartful way, and I shouldn't have said it that way, and I apologize for saying it that way," he said. "It was taken wrong. I didn't explain it or clarify my remarks, as I'm clarifying them here. I am sorry that I said it that way, and I shouldn't have."

Nevertheless, DeLay said he wants the Judiciary Committee to look for ways to deal with what he called "judicial activism," and suggested possibilities such as curtailing certain courts' jurisdiction and even redrawing boundaries of the federal circuits.

"Congress has constitutionally mandated oversight responsibilities over the judiciary," he said. "We would be shirking our constitutional obligations if we did not look at these issues as they come up."

He would not say whether he favors impeachment for any of the judges in the Schiavo case.......

[redqueen]

58. Um... on second thought.

Norquist Nemesis is right... that was a non-apology.

What a consistent sleazebag.

[halobeam]

59. I don't appreciate that.

I think he's lying again. He is the lowest of low and not trustworthy.

[Norquist Nemesis]

60. A non-apology. Typical.

Delay: I don't apologize for what I said, just the way I said it.

Texas, PLEASE! Take back your Government, WITHOUT DELAY!

[Langis]

61. Delay still doesn't understand the Constitution

"Nevertheless, DeLay said he wants the Judiciary Committee to look for ways to deal with what he called "judicial activism," and suggested possibilities such as curtailing certain courts' jurisdiction and even redrawing boundaries of the federal circuits."

Does he think this is a Dictatorship run by Republicans? Oh wait...

[Redstone]

62. That's NOT a fucking apology!!!

"I said something in an inartful way"??? "It was taken wrong"???

He did NOT apologize for what he said, just for "having said it wrong."

This is a new low in weaseldom.

Bite me, bugman.

Redstone

[zbdent]

63. Too late. The "coded message" is out there.

And these are the people who were claiming that the tie Bill Clinton wore was a secret message . . .

[Skip Intro]

64. He didn't apologize for what he said

only he way he said it.

what bs

[Dhalgren]

65. This piece of shit didn't apologize for his threat,

he apologized for not wording it better! If this asshole Tom Delay is the best the Republicans can come up with to "lead" the majority in the House they should be ashamed of their party and rethink their affiliation. Any person who supports Tom Delay is a traitor to his/her country and an enemy of the Constitution.

[gauguin57]

66. When is he going to apologize for

existing on this Earth?

[Norquist Nemesis]

68. Ouch!

Still, I wish we had an American Siberia for the likes of DeLay. Maybe he should make an extended visit to Gitmo. :evilgrin:

[MADem]

72. Texas?

(Ducking the brickbats from our friends in Texas.....)

[trogdor]

67. Ain't worth shit.

Thinly veiled threats are vague by their very definition. I'm sure what he meant by "it was taken wrong" was something like, "people should have just agreed with me."

Make no mistake; he is sorry he got his hand slapped. It is important that we take this non-apology for what it's worth, which is nothing, and making sure these comments about how he'd like to punish judges who don't agree with him stick like super glue. Rep. DeLay would, after all, be more than happy to join in on the pile-on for his counterpart Rep. Pelosi if she were ever stupid nor ignorant enough to make remarks like that in the first place, which is highly unlikely.

[Options Remain]

69. "It was taken wrong."

That right there is a bad choice of words. When you apologise you NEVER imply another party is at fault.

[rocktivity]

70. Go, RoachBoy! Go, Go!

Keep fighting the good fight! Refuse to show remorse or admit you're wrong! Split your party! Alienate those moderates! Mortify those Christians! Piss off Rove and Cheney! Blame it all on liberals! You're doing GREAT--honest! RoachBoy, RoachBoy, rah rah rah!


rocknation

[joefree1]

73. Yeah, take it all the way Delay

Really piss off independents and old school conservatives. Please be our poster boy for what's wrong with rethuglicans.

 "The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness."
- John Kenneth Galbraith


Seating now available in the Smoking Section:
Politics, humor, death and the Devil - http://www.eDiablo.com

[MADem]

71. A song runs through my head!!!!!

It's too late baby, now, it's too late....!!!!!!

[yellowcanine]

77. Right - "Too little, too late." My corollary to "Revenge is best served

cold" is "Political apologies only work if with no buts AND within a 24 hour news cycle."

[Jo March]

74. I thought my mom was the queen of non-apologies

She used to say, "I'm sorry that you let what I said hurt your feelings."

That's what Delay is doing - turning it back on everyone else. Sleaze.

He can't even apologize right.

[xxqqqzme]

75. that is no apology!

"...I said it that way, and I shouldn't have."...

I should have said it a different way?

I loathe and despise these people.

[yellowcanine]

76. Exactly - He only apologized for the way it was said, NOT the content.

I don't give a rat's ass (I love saying that) about the tone, it is the content that was hateful and he did give comfort to would be judge assassins whether he wants to admit that or not.

[The Donkey]

81. Perhaps he regrets his syntax

It would be like me apologizing for the manner in which I wished that you would get hit by a gas truck, but not confirming that I didn't want it to happen.

:puke:

[goodboy]

79. hardly an apology...he didn't say he was sorry about what he said, he

said he was sorry about "how" he said it.

fuck you bugman you're gettin smashed like the cockroach you are

[pissed_American]

80. AP via Yahoo

DeLay Apologizes for Schiavo Case Rhetoric
AP via Yahoo ^ | April 13, 2005 | Terence Hunt


House Majority Leader Tom DeLay apologized Wednesday for using overheated rhetoric on the day Terri Schiavo died, but refused to say whether he supports impeachment of the judges who ruled in her case.

~snip~

At a crowded news conference in his Capitol office, DeLay addressed remarks he made in the hours after the brain-damaged Florida woman died on March 31. "I said something in an inartful way and I shouldn't have said it that way and I apologize for saying it that way," DeLay told reporters.

~snip~

DeLay seemed at pains to soften, if slightly, his rhetoric of March 31, when Schiavo died despite an extraordinary political and legal effort to save her life.


"I believe in an independent judiciary. I repeat, of course I believe in an independent judiciary," DeLay said.


At the same time, he added, the Constitution gives Congress power to oversee the courts.


"We set up the courts. We can unset the courts. We have the power of the purse," DeLay said.


Asked whether he favors impeachment for any of the judges in the Schiavo case, he did not answer directly.


Instead, he referred reporters to an earlier request he made to the House Judiciary Committee to look into "judicial activism" and Schiavo's case in particular.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=512&ncid=703&e=2&u=/ap/20050414/ap_on_go_co/delay

[ProfessorGAC]

82. Sorry For The WAY He Said It. Not For What He Meant!

Interesting duck and dodge there. He didn't disavow any of it. Just said he regretted the way he stated it.

What a tool!
The Professor

[BlueIris]

83. Well, I guess all's forgiven, then.

Oh, wait, except for all the ABSURD ABUSES OF POWER, DISGUSTING USE OF AN INCAPACITATED WOMEN FOR POLITICAL CAPITAL AND THREAT TO THE SANCTITY OF THE JUDICIARY AND WELL-BEING OF ITS MEMBERS. I hate you, Mr. DeLay.