BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: Ebbie
Date: 16 Dec 05 - 05:41 PM

Your standards are purposely low? *G*

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: pdq
Date: 15 Dec 05 - 09:21 PM

And you never will be...*grin*

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: Ebbie
Date: 15 Dec 05 - 09:16 PM

pdq, perhaps you would make it clear to literal-minded people like me that you are being facetious about 'getting down on the floor and scratching fleas'? You do know that the way one would 'pretend' to be a dog in order to get cheaper drugs would be by ordering those drugs from a veterinary clinic in the name of one's dog? With you, I'm never sure.

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: Arne
Date: 15 Dec 05 - 01:08 PM

pdq:

Sorry, Arne, but I cannot imagine getting down on the floor and scratching fleas so I can get cheaper drugs.

But it will get you cheaper drugs. Maybe better to do that than to have to pawn your 'puter when the times get tough, eh?

Cheers,

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: Tannywheeler
Date: 15 Dec 05 - 10:09 AM

Politicos (and others of us, truth-be-known) ought to put a Post-It inside their eyelids with the motto: "Please be sure brain is engaged before putting mouth in motion." But, yeah, DeLay is kinda icky.
During Bush's 1st run for guv here in Texas we were debating what to do with surplus revenue--where we could put it to do the state the most good. Within about half of his first year we were suddenly having a shortfall and debating which services to cut. Same for his run for Pres. Toward the end of Clinton's administration we were discussing how to most effectively disburse surplus moneys to get the most good for the nation. After Bush took office we were suddenly trying to figure out what educational, health, poverty programs to cut....
Talk about DeLay's business failures--Bush's only private sector success was a baseball team(sort of), and only because he got THE STATE OF TEXAS/Arlington to build his fancy ballpark for him...
Well, back to the drawing board.....             Tw

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: Donuel
Date: 14 Dec 05 - 08:49 PM

He is quite intelligent but twisted and flawed like many humans. I only met him once in person and found him to be a rather small man with a very polished head.
They say it takes a small man to carry a big grudge.

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: GUEST,Wesley S
Date: 14 Dec 05 - 08:21 PM

No offense taken Azizi - I live in Texas but I never voted for him.

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: Azizi
Date: 14 Dec 05 - 08:17 PM

robomatic -

I applaud your 13 Dec 05 - 09:33 PM oneliner.

And-no offense to Texans-but your comment is so true on so many levels..

It was a sorry day for Texas when Yankee Bush bought a Texas "ranch", and Delay stopped exterminating bugs and became a politican instead.

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: Bunnahabhain
Date: 14 Dec 05 - 07:30 PM

There are idiots, there are dangerous idiots, and then there are very dangerous. They are the ones with power, and whose intelligence has been seduced by some kind of fanaticism. De lay is one of the last kind.

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: bobad
Date: 14 Dec 05 - 06:58 PM

Ebbie

You are correct in your post re. pharmaceuticals and the medical profession. My wife works in a medical clinic and my career was in the field as well. Your reference to "free" samples brings to mind what I say to the Dr.'s she works for when they say what a great free lunch they got from the drug rep. I tell them that their lunch wasn't free, it was included in the price that their patients pay for their meds, as are the "free" samples.

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: pdq
Date: 14 Dec 05 - 06:47 PM

Sorry, Arne, but I cannot imagine getting down on the floor and scratching fleas so I can get cheaper drugs.

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: Arne
Date: 14 Dec 05 - 06:40 PM

pdq:

As for your first paragraph: So you admit that there's a whompin' profit margin for drugs here? Imagine that.... Then ponder why medical costs are going through the roof....

As to the second, "silly" as it may sound, what he said is true, isn't it?

Cheers,

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: Ebbie
Date: 14 Dec 05 - 01:41 PM

"One point only. US pharmaceutical companies often charge on an "ability to pay" basis. They will ship huge amounts of a given medicine to poor African countries at 10¢ on the dollar as compared to private US customers."pdq

You do come out with gems that boggle the mind. (Remember the taxes?) I truly don't know where you get your information.

"US pharmaceutical companies often charge on an "ability to pay" basis."? Where and when do they do this? Many times one is able to get a generic version of the expensive product- but guess what- the pharmaceutical business is not totally happy with it.

Most price breaks occur when a doctor gives a patient s number of free sample packets that s/he received from salesmen, rather than on a pay-as-you-can basis at the pharmacy.

"They will ship huge amounts of a given medicine to poor African countries at 10¢ on the dollar as compared to private US customers"?

Years ago I worked at a doctors' clinic. Guess what we did with our outdated pills? Yep. We sent them to a clearinghouse whence the medications travelled overseas. Everything from antibiotics to birth control pills. All with expired dates.

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: robomatic
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 09:33 PM

My opinion:

Tom DeLay is proof of a Texas Gross National Product.

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: pdq
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 08:47 PM

Arne...

One point only. US pharmaceutical companies often charge on an "ability to pay" basis. They will ship huge amounts of a given medicine to poor African countries at 10¢ on the dollar as compared to private US customers. Large HMOs and more prosperous countries pay something between the extremes.

Gore's statement "That's pretty bad when you have got to pretend to be a dog or a cat to get a price break" still sounds moronic, sorry to report.

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: Rapparee
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 08:45 PM

No. I started this post because I received the quotes from a good friend who is most DEFINITELY "on the right" and I thought that others might like them.

While I find De Lay an arrogant SOB, that is my opinion and ONLY my opinion.

If you want someone "slimed" choose someone else to do it.

As for the Gore quotes -- shall we look at (shudder!) Dan Quayle? Or Nixon? Or Clinton? Or Hoover? Or James Watt? Every public figure has made gaffs -- De Lay's, however, indicate an arrogance that doesn't sit well with me.

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: Arne
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 08:28 PM

pdq: The ol' "tu quoque" argument, eh? Betcha got that list from some Freeper site or other RW spew too ... but you won't give 'credit' where credit is due (not nice; plagiarism and all, yaknow...).

But FWIW, why do you think that a malapropism is the same as DeLay's fetid and/or clueless utterances above? DeLay probably meant what he said. And why do you bother to bring Gore into the 'conversation' here?

And FWIW, it is true that the veterinary version of meds is in many cases much cheaper than the human version of the same drug. Same for medical equipment; we paid far less than 1/2 price for a C02 medical gas analyzer compared to the "human" model; same equipment but one has a sticker on it.... You may want to explain that and/or justify it, but it's pretty silly to deny that it happens and to ridicule Gore for pointing that out....

Cheers,

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: Ebbie
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 08:17 PM

ho, ho, ho, pdq.

Incidentally, you are right- I did mention the GWuB (I like saying that) rather than DeLay, mostly because what DeLay is quoted as saying is so appalling.

On the other hand, you are the one who indicated that Gore was close to the presidency. And that did reference Bush. So there.

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: Arne
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 08:08 PM

Stilly River Sage:

I'm not. Having lived through that horrible redistricting misadventure here in Texas, I hope they not only clap him in irons,...

If that was in response to my post, you need to tweak the sensitivity of your Iron-O-Meter up a tad. My --- ummm, "offer" --- of "food and lodging" wasn't all that different from yours....

Cheers,

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: pdq
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 08:07 PM

Gee, Ebbie...thought the point of this thread was to slime Tom DeLay, not GWB.

Besides, if you are talking about "slip of the tongue", surely you are talking about Billy Boy Clinton, eh?

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 07:49 PM

GoodonyaEbbie!!

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: Ebbie
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 07:45 PM

Whoa, you guys. I sense more than a touch of disingeuousness in pursuing Al Gore's verbal gaffes. Those are vocal mistakes, not mistakes of thinking.

I defy anyone here or anywhere else to print verbatim what they or some loved one of theirs has said. I am ready to accept that upon reflection or on paper they would come across as both more literate and a tad brighter than they do off the top of their heads.


One of the differences is that if the GWuB were writing his comments he would still say the same thing.

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: Peace
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 07:36 PM

LOL

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: pdq
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 07:33 PM

Tom DeLay will never be 1605 votes away from being president.

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: bobad
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 07:27 PM

Oh, I see - two dumbs make a bright.

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: Peace
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 07:20 PM

He isn't too bright, either.

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: pdq
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 06:54 PM

Anyone can be made to look silly by carefully culling their quotes. Here are some certified honest quotes from Al Gore:



> At an event in Las Vegas Gore declared potential breast cancer victims faced "a long waiting line before they could get a biopsy or, uh, or a uh, another kind of, what am I looking for, a sonogram or...." People in the crowd shouted "mammogram."

> "When my sister and I were growing up," Mr. Gore told a small audience made up mostly of women, "there was never any doubt in our minds that men and women were equal, if not more so."

> Vice President Al Gore, reaching for a personal example to illustrate the breathtaking costs of some prescription drugs, told seniors in Florida that his mother-in-law pays nearly three times as much for the same arthritis medicine used for his ailing dog, Shiloh. "That's pretty bad when you have got to pretend to be a dog or a cat to get a price break"

> "A zebra does not change its spots."        - Al Gore, attacking President George Bush in 1992.

> E plu...what?
"We can build a collective civic space large enough for all our separate identities, that we can be e pluribus unum -- out of one, many." E Pluribus Unum is the motto on the Great Seal of the United States of America, and is Latin for "out of many, one," not "out of one, many."

>   "Speaking from my own religious tradition in this Christmas season, 2,000 years ago a homeless woman gave birth to a homeless child in a manger because the inn was full."
Hello! Mary and Joseph were not homeless!

> A new type of tree!
Al Gore, giving a speech for Yellowstone National Park's 125th Anniversary, Albright Visitors Center, Sunday, August 17, 1997: "When we come here, we see the longpole pine and the Douglas fir."
Sorry Al, it's LODGEpole. There is no such thing as a LONGpole pine.

> In his first appearance in a nationally televised candidates forum, Gore was asked to name a past US president from whom he drew personal inspiration. He replied that he especially admired another "dark horse" candidate, and a product of his home state, the great "president James Knox". The only problem is that the history books show that nobody named Knox ever occupied the White House. He most likely meant James Polk whom many a contender for the "worst president ever" award.

> In 1996, Al Gore visited a school in a largely Hispanic portion of Albuquerque, New Mexico. In an effort to fit in, he decided it would be appropriate to say something in Spanish as he took the stage. He was probably supposed to say "Muchisimas Gracias", which means "Very, very much thanks" or possibly "Muchas Gracias", which means "thank you very much." Instead, he walked on stage saying "Machismo Gracias"        - roughly        translated to "manliness thanks."



Enough? Thousands more to choose from!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 06:39 PM

Actually in England views like that were pretty mainstream tory party conference stuff in the Thatcher years.

Strangely enough there is a clamour at the moment amongst some mudcat members to get the tories back in power. Not just the terminally daft either.

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 06:31 PM

Thansk for the link, Azizi.

Right you are, BillD, er...I mean correct!LOL

Here's a bit more from this month's issue of Mother Jones:

...Christian Reconstruction—an obscure but increasingly potent theology whose top exponents hold that Christian crusaders must conquer and convert the world, by the sword if necessary, before Jesus will return.

And, from the same article (my emphasis):

George W. Bush has called Reconstruction-influenced theoretician Marvin Olasky "compassionate conservatism's leading thinker," and Olasky served as one of the president's key advisers on the creation of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Bush also invited Reconstructionist Jack Hayford, a key figure in the Promise Keepers men's group, to give the benediction at his first inaugural. Deposed House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, though his office won't comment on his religious views, governs with what he calls a "biblical worldview"—one of Reconstruction's signature phrases.

More here: A Nation Under God.

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: Azizi
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 06:16 PM

De Lay gives bug killers a bad name.

See this excerpt about DeLay's bugged out past:

"And then there's his failed cockroach killing business, as the Washington Post describes it:

In a more expansive moment, Tom DeLay once proclaimed himself "the best weasel killer in Houston" and described his pest-control company as "the Cadillac" of exterminators. DeLay no longer advertises that -- his official biographies describe him only as former owner of an unspecified small business.
Indeed, a closer examination of his company, Albo Pest Control, suggests it was at best a struggling operation, and the public record raises questions about DeLay's business ethics, truthfulness and the lengths to which he will go when someone crosses him.

His first job out of college was at a pesticide company, mixing, among other things, large batches of rat poison. He went solo in 1973 and purchased Albo, which quickly ran into problems in Houston's boom-bust economy, says Christine DeLay, who helped run it then. "He was borrowing money to make payroll, which was a stupid business decision. Tommy said his five technicians were loyal, honest men and should not be laid off, so he borrowed money to keep from layoffs," she says. "So he got behind on payroll taxes."

DeLay was hit with tax liens three times by the Internal Revenue Service, in 1979, 1980 and 1983, because he was not paying payroll and income taxes. In addition, he paid court settlements twice to business associates who claimed he'd cheated them.

DeLay, while still in the state legislature, had signed a deal to buy out a small exterminator, Robert Bartnett, for about $ 40,000, but only paid him an initial $ 8,000, Bartnett recalls. DeLay claimed he stopped paying because Bartnett sold him a failing business. "When I was able to go look at his records," Bartnett says, "I learned that a great number of customers had quit because they didn't feel they were being serviced properly." The court ordered DeLay to pay Bartnett the $ 32,000 he was owed..."

For more of this article, click Hypocrisy is De Lay's Middle Name

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: Bill D
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 06:09 PM

Mother Jones magazine is special...it really lays out in detail some of the more blatent attempts to turn this country into a Theocracy.....I'm surprised a Tom De Lay lasted THIS long without tieing a rhetorical noose around his own neck.

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: Peace
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 06:04 PM

He makes an ol' Cocker Spaniel I had look like a bloody genius!

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 06:04 PM

I'm not. Having lived through that horrible redistricting misadventure here in Texas, I hope they not only clap him in irons, I hope they (the supreme court) order the district lines restored to their official positions before DeLay took his Sharpie to them. (I know, I won't hold my breath).

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: bobad
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 05:59 PM

He makes Canada's politcos look like intellectuals - OK smarter at least.

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: Peace
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 05:45 PM

I am amazed.

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: Arne
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 05:26 PM

Ahhhhh ... the perils of ingesting too many organophosphate insecticides. Sad, really. Pathetic, in fact. Good thing for him that the gummint will support him through his disabilities. I can only hope they firm up their commitment (and his), and agree to provide food and lodging as well for as long as he needs it.

Cheers,

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 05:12 PM

Take a look at the new issue of Mother Jones Magazine. It's devoted, entirely, to what the Christian Right is doing to our country, including billions of dollars diverted through channels to look legitimate Here is one article from the latest issue: Rendering unto god.

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: Chris Green
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 05:09 PM

Is he the bloke whose job it is to make Bush look intelligent? :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: Greg F.
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 04:58 PM

Arrogance is his most desirable and lovable quality. The man is a psychotic, with delusions of godhood. And he's a criminal. With any luck, he'll soon be in jail.

Another role model for U.S. fundamantalist "christians"[sic].

Subject: BS: Wit and Wisdom of Tom De Lay
From: Rapparee
Date: 13 Dec 05 - 04:35 PM

A friend -- a Republican -- sent me these quotes. Personally, I try not to take sides in politics, finding it more interesting to find fault with both sides of the aisle. However, I do find Tom De Lay to be an arrogant SOB and so I pass these on in that spirit.

Here are 10 fine examples of the wit and wisdom of Tom DeLay:


1) "So many minority youths had volunteered, that there was literally no room for patriotic folks like myself."
--Tom DeLay, explaining at the 1988 GOP convention why he and vice
presidential nominee Dan Quayle did not fight in the Vietnam War.


2) "Now tell me the truth boys, is this kind of fun?"
--Tom Delay, to three young hurricane evacuees from New Orleans at the Astrodome in Houston, Sept.9, 2005.


3) "I AM the federal government."
--Tom DeLay, to the owner of Ruth's Chris Steak House, after being told to put out his cigar because of federal government regulations banning smoking in the building, May 14, 2003.


4) "We're no longer a superpower. We're a super-duper power."
--Tom DeLay, explaining why America must topple Saddam Hussein in
2002 interview with Fox News.


5) "Nothing is more important in the face of a war than cutting taxes."
--Tom DeLay, March 12, 2003.


6) "Guns have little or nothing to do with juvenile violence. The causes of youth violence are working parents who put their kids into daycare, the teaching of evolution in the schools, and working mothers who take birth control pills."
--Tom DeLay, on causes of the Columbine High School massacre, 1999.


7) "A woman can take care of the family. It takes a man to provide structure. To provide stability. Not that a woman can't provide stability, I'm not saying that... It does take a father, though."
--Tom DeLay, in a radio interview, Feb. 10, 2004.


8) "I don't believe there is a separation of church and state. I
think the Constitution is very clear. The only separation is that there will not be a government church."
--Tom DeLay (date unspecified)


9) "Emotional appeals about working families trying to get by on $4.25 an hour [the minimum wage in 1996] are hard to resist. Fortunately, such families do not exist."
--Tom DeLay, during a debate in Congress on increasing the minimum wage, April 23, 1996.


10) "I am not a federal employee. I am a constitutional officer. My job is the Constitution of the United States, I am not a government employee. I am in the Constitution."
--Tom DeLay, in a CNN interview, Dec. 19, 199