More wacky shenanigans from one of Congress's head honchos! (BTW, did the war-hungry DeLay serve in the military? Just wondering.)

DeLay Denies Role in Letter Riling Unions

DeLay Denies Role in Letter Riling Unions
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE

epresentative Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, yesterday disavowed an anti-union fund-raising letter that bears his signature after several union leaders condemned the letter because it accuses "big labor bosses" of seeking to expand their power at the expense of national security.

The letter, which raised money for the National Right to Work Legal Defense and Education Foundation, criticized "the union bosses' drive to use the national emergencies we face today to grab more power." It said this drive "presents a clear and present danger to the security of the United States."

Last night Mr. DeLay's spokesman, Stuart Roy, said that Mr. DeLay disavowed the letter, dated Jan. 8, and had never seen it until Thursday. Mr. Roy said one of Mr. DeLay's assistants had made a mistake in approving the letter.

Stefan Gleason, the foundation's vice president for public affairs, said he was surprised by the disavowal. "I know that we deal with the people who have the authority," Mr. Gleason said. "Its up to the them. Presumably, it's his view because he signed the letter."

Before Mr. DeLay distanced himself from the letter, James P. Hoffa, the president of the Teamsters, the union most vigorously courted by Republicans, wrote him a letter saying, "This anti-union screed not only insults the 1.4 million members of this union, it offends me personally."

***
Harold A. Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, wrote an angry letter to Mr. DeLay yesterday, noting that 343 firefighters died in the attacks on the World Trade Center.

"How dare you question the patriotism of the nation's firefighters and their elected union leaders," Mr. Schaitberger wrote, "all of whom have crawled down a burning hallway, faced uncontrolled flames and risked their lives countless times for the citizens of our great nation?"

Yes DeLay was wrong - for backing down!

His letter, assuming it was his, attacked union leaders, NOT union members, and was right on in its citations to the West Coast strike and other instances reported in the full NYT story. I hope it also mentioned union LEADERS' reluctance/refusal to advise their members of their right not to contribute to union politicking, per the Supreme Court's Beck decision, which the Clinton administration refused to enforce and which President Bush's administration has tread too gingerly around.

The union bosses' attempting to deflect the issue by hiding behind the good works of their members is what's really shameful and insulting about this story. I would not be at all be concerned about "offending" any Hoffa family - I use the word in its familiar sense - member's feelings, outside the bounds of extending common courtesy towards a fellow human being. They and their fellow fat-cat labor chieftains are public figures and proved they know how to dish it out by getting to where they did today.

Union? YES! Union bosses? NO!

Ill take your word for this since you wrote the book on defleciting issues.

His most recent rant questioned the patriotism of Democrats who oppose the war, especially Howard Dean. He called them "appeasers" among other things.

Of course, as usual, utter hypocrisy from DeLay, who did not serve in the military at all, and has come up with nonsensical excuses for why he didn't do so. A cowardly, pumped-up chicken hawk who can't wait to see other peoples' sons and daughters die overseas, while he stuffs his pockets with lobbyists' dollars and rams extremist legislation through the House.

For a comparison of the Democrats' and Republicans' records on military service, go to
Who Served?

Bonior, Daschle, Gephardt, Gore, Hollings, Inouye, Kennedy, Kerrey, Kerry, Harkin, Hollings, Mondale, McGovern, Reed, etc., all have military records, some of them extraordinarily distinguished.

Hastert, DeLay, Frist, Blount, Rove, Cheney, Ashcroft, Lott, Nickles, Shelby, Kyl, Perle, etc., did not serve at all.

DeLay should stick to slandering unions. It's perhaps a little less hypocritical and inane.

fantomas

what does serving in the military have to do with patriotisim? i'm sure delay just wants to see americans killed in "his" little war, just as much as i do. get a grip buddy.

No, you get a grip. If a person is that gung-ho about war, and is calling those who oppose it unpatriotic, EVEN THOUGH THEY HAVE FOUGHT AND DEFENDED THIS COUNTRY honorably, then he's the COWARD AND TOTAL HYPOCRITE. Why couldn't he get his ass out of Texas and serve if he so believes in the military? There weren't that many "minorities," as he claimed, that prevented Gore and Kerry and McCain and others from doing so.

Patriotism isn't just rhetoric; many of the people DeLay is attacking had the courage to back up their patriotism with their lives and blood.

[ March 03, 2003, 04:57 PM: Message edited by: fantomas ]