Another Toxic Texan

By Jim Lobe
November 25, 2002

Editor: Tom Barry, Interhemispheric Resource Center (IRC)

0211delay.pdf [printer-friendly version]

If "European elites" and other effete multilateralists consider U.S. President George W. Bush the "Toxic Texan," what will they think of the new Republican Majority Leader in the House of Representatives, Tom DeLay?

DeLay not only hails from Texas as does the president; he is truly toxic. Before entering politics in 1979, he ran a pest extermination business. And he still thinks all this talk about global warming, the ozone hole, and even pesticides like DDT as being potentially hazardous to human health, is a lot of nonsense.

And unlike Bush, DeLay is a real Texas cowboy (although he learned how to wrestle steers in rural Venezuela). Prominently on display in his House office are two bull whips, and he is not averse to showing visitors how he can crack them.

He also differs with Bush in personal reputation. Even among Democratic rivals, Bush is seen as one of the most likable people in politics. The adjective that most often comes up to describe DeLay, even among some of his allies, is "mean." It is not for nothing that he is called "The Hammer," a moniker that rarely fails to bring a smile to his face.

DeLay, as Majority Whip, has wielded the most power among Republican representatives ever since former House Speaker Newt Gingrich resigned in 1998, in the opinion of most political insiders. Indeed, he could have been elected Speaker, but, knowing that he would be a lightning rod for Democratic attacks, he handpicked the avuncular former high school wrestling coach, Dennis Hastert, for the spot. He also decided against challenging another Texan with more seniority, Dick Armey, for the Leader's position.

At the Party's request, he stayed out of the spotlight during the 2000 elections, allowing George W. to woo moderate independents to the party's ticket.

In many ways DeLay embodies the Christian Right that has almost completely taken over the core of the Republican Party since the 1980s reign of former president Ronald Reagan. Southern, white, intense, angry, and self-righteous at the same time, and profoundly anti-government in all things except national security, DeLay rarely speaks at any length without inveighing against the "elite" and the "privileged few who are determined to discredit and, ultimately, replace core American traditions."

Or, as he told the Christian Coalition in 1999: "will this country accept the worldviews of humanism, materialism, sexism, naturalism, postmodernism, or any of the other 'isms'? Or will we march forward with a biblical worldview, a worldview that says God is our creator, that man is a sinner, and that we will save this country by changing the hearts and minds of Americans?"

DeLay has no doubts that "the United States has been the world's greatest force for good," grounded in "the basic principles that are at the root of our exceptionalism," which he lists as "our faith in God, our belief in the sanctity of human life, our acceptance of moral absolutes, and our certainty that we are ultimately accountable for our own actions." To retain that "exceptionalism," he has been a staunch foe of global treaties and institutions, particularly the International Criminal Court (ICC). Last year, he introduced the American Servicemembers Protection Act (ASPA), which not only forbids Washington from cooperating with the Court, but authorizes the president to use military force to free any U.S. soldier held by the ICC in The Hague or anywhere else.

Over the past two years, as Bush has shown more of his true colors, it has become clear that the two men are ideologically much more compatible on issues ranging from church-state relations and government regulation of business to global warming, Israel, and other key foreign-policy issues than had been assumed two years ago.

And now, it appears, DeLay feels he's ready for prime time and the national spotlight.

(Jim Lobe <jlobe@starpower.net> is a regular contributor to Foreign Policy In Focus (online at www.fpif.org) and to Inter Press Service.)