Burnt Orange Report

Confessions of a Texas Republican Drama Queen

By Jim Dallas

Nick Confessore of TAPPED links to this Salon.com story about the ongoing spat between GOP majority leader Tom DeLay and former GOP majority leader Dick Armey.

Now, Armey is pretty off-the-charts nuts, but I'm starting to get a little nostalgic for the old times when he and Gingrich would just tease us and call us names ("Barney Fag"), instead of beating us to a bloody pulp as they do now-a-days.

Note that Armey (who we already knew opposed the Medicare farce and the insane budget deficits, as all honest liberals and conservatives have) also claims to have lobbied President Bush not to invade Iraq.

The money quote in this story, though, comes not from Armey but from AEI wonk and Roll Call contributor Norman Ornstein:

In the long run, Armey says, Republicans will be stronger if they allow genuine internal debate. But that is hardly the trend in the House, where DeLay "has taken every norm the Legislature has operated on and shredded it," the AEI's Ornstein said. Once, Republicans lambasted Democrats, when they were in the majority, for denying them the opportunity to amend bills on the House floor. Today, congressional leaders have gone even further by barring Democrats from participating in key conference committees, where final deals on legislation are worked out. In Texas, DeLay engineered a mid-decade redistricting of congressional seats designed to oust incumbent Democrats, breaking the tradition of realigning only after a 10-year census. "On a scale of 1 to 10, Democrats abused their majority status at about a level 5 or 6," Ornstein observed. "Republicans today have moved it to about an 11."

Yes, America, the current governing cabal, all of whom are Republicans (but not all Republicans are part of the current governing cabal) is corrupt beyond your wildest nightmares.

Sweep the bums out!

P.S. May be this is why a GOP aide claimed that it's "extremely difficult to govern when you control all three branches of government." If by govern, of course, you mean "crush all dissent."