As long as we’re talking about the DeLay Rule again (see below), I thought it might be illuminating to scan through some of the day’s newspaper articles and see where people now stand.
Wednesday’s Post quotes Rep. Melissa Hart (R-PA) saying: “We will want people who are clean running the House.” She’s supporting John Boehner (R-OH), who is being held out as the clean candidate in comparison to acting-Majority Leader and one-time DeLay protege Roy Blunt (R-MO). And it’s certainly an admirable sentiment.
But a year ago she was a vocal supporter of the DeLay Rule which was designed to let DeLay, then the Majority Leader, remain in his post even after he was indicted. Members of her staff told TPM Readers who contacted her office that she voted in favor of the Rule. In other words, she wanted to change the rules so that someone who was dirty could keep running the House.
In fact, DeLay had so much confidence in Hart that after he purged the Ethics Committee in early 2005 (see ‘night of the long gavels’) she was one of the loyalists he put on the committee. Indeed, while DeLay was still in the driver’s seat enough to be calling the shots, Hart was tapped to lead the Majority-approved investigation of DeLay.
How much do you think DeLay thought Hart had his back?
How times have changed.
