| This week, we have good news, great news, bad news, and old news. First, the good news: last night during the weekly Dancing With the Stars results show, Tom DeLay dropped out. The disgraced Republican cited stress fractures in his feet. And while I don't wish DeLay any physical harm, I find it disappointing that he could withstand the pressure of forcing horrible conservative policies on America, yet a little quick-stepping put him down for the count.
The great news: no more booty-shaking by the former Majority Leader on national television, and no more gratuitous close-ups on said ass by ABC. He wasn't going home any other way, for now--Tom was safe for yet another week due to his vigorous GOTV campaign. And, in another piece of great news, we'll continue with Dancing With DeLay-Watch as long as the season runs. After all, there's much more DeLay malfeasance to chronicle here on Burnt Orange Report.
The bad news: if DeLay's foot heals, he can come back to the show and pick up where he left off, twirling across the stage in that horrendous red costume with the sequined Republican elephant on the back.
And that brings us to the old news: DeLay's resignation from the dancing show can't help but recall his previous early departure from Congress, after his indictment on charges of campaign finance violations and money laundering.
This Week: Quitters Never Win, Then and Now
It's 2006 all over again as Tom DeLay is forced to hobble down from the heights of power (or depths of the dance floor, as the case may be). Let's re-cap the chain of events that pushed DeLay out of the Capitol and into the tight pants.
- May 2005: A judge rules that DeLay broke finance laws in 2002 by not reporting $600,000 in illegal corporate contributions.
- September 2005: A federal grand jury indicts DeLay's TRMPAC for illegal contributions and expenditures. Per Republican Party rules, DeLay steps down as Majority Leader.
- September 2005: Ronnie Earle indicts DeLay for conspiracy to violate election laws.
- October 2005: A warrant is issued for DeLay's arrest. He turns himself in; fingerprints and infamous mug shot are taken.
- January 2006: DeLay files for re-election to Congress; Republican party forces him to not run for re-election as Majority Leader.
- March 2006: DeLay wins Republican primary in landslide. (Stay classy, Republicans in TX-22!)
- April 2006: Former DeLay aide pleads guilty to all sorts of stuff; DeLay resigns from office.
- Summer 2006: Texas GOP tries to replace DeLay's name on the ballot with someone else's, claiming he moved to Virginia. GOP fails.
- August 2006: DeLay withdraws name from ballot. GOP mounts write-in campaign for hard-to-spell and harder-to-forget deranged dermatologist.
- November 2006: Democrat Nick Lampson wins election in TX-22. Lampson had been gerrymandered out of Congress by Tom DeLay in 2004; his former seat is now held by Rep. Tom Poe.
The history shows us that DeLay loves his famous firsts: not only was he the first Majority Leader to step down from Congress due to being indicted, he was the first disgraced Republican to step down from Dancing With the Stars due to foot injuries. In fact, if my memory serves, he's the only disgraced Republican ex-Majority Leader to be indicted and fail on a televised dancing contest.
After all of the hype around DeLay's dance moves, maybe the joke's on ABC. The endless free media around DeLay's moves on DWTS is gone, and the volume of hurl-worthy videos on Huffington Post each week will decrease by at least 50%. As for any parting shots?
The TDP's Kirsten Gray told the Houston Chronicle's Texas on the Potomac blog, "It's unfortunate for DeLay that his feet are as fractured as his ethics. His reality TV come-back might have to wait for the premiere of America's Next Top Washed-up GOP'er."
I guess it's not surprising that the severely anti-choice DeLay would vote for abstinence-only education and then end up relying on the withdrawal method. DeLay just looked so uncomfortable dancing. He hadn't looked that uneasy since being indicted by the former Travis County DA. Unfortunately, DeLay's nervous visage is probably the strongest sign to date that Ronnie Earle might actually run for governor.
But perhaps the best line of the night came from Twitter, where Charles Kuffner asked, "so tom delay is dropping out of "dancing with the stars". can we write in shelley sekula gibbs instead?"
All in all, Tom DeLay is off the show, the DeLay-Watch series continues, and the old adage is once again proven true: winners never quit, and quitters never win. Adios to Tom DeLay--don't let the studio door hit you in your gyrating rear on the way out.
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Past Episodes of Dancing With DeLay-Watch
Week 2: Texas Tale of the Tape Tango Edition
Week 1: Pas De Duplicity Edition
Week -1: The Hammer Time Edition
Week -3: Dirty Financing Edition
Week -4: Mugshot Mambo Edition |
