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GOP Hypocrite of the Week: Republican House Minority Leader Tom DeLay

A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL

Listen to the GOPHOTW HERE.

If you're wondering why BuzzFlash.com has not yet honored former bug exterminator Tom DeLay as our GOP Hypocrite of the week, the answer is simple. We just didn't think that we were up to the task.

It's much like a hiker who regularly hikes flat trails finding himself in at the base of Mt. Everest.

That's kind of how we felt dealing with the Mount Everest of GOP Hypocrites, Tom "Dioxin Brain" DeLay. The task of detailing his hypocrisy is as daunting as cleaning out the elephant barn after the circus has left town.

This is a guy who claims that he is a fundamentalist Christian, but won't talk to his mother. This is a guy who accused Clinton of impeachable carnal sins, but throws junkets for lobbyists in Vegas at which his daughter allegedly jumps into hot tubs filled with champagne. This is a whacko coward who claimed that he and Dan Quay le were prevented from serving in the military during the Vietnam War because minorities had taken up all the enlistment spots. This is a guy who has been accused of shaking down contributors if they want legislation passed. This is an ex "bug" man who is exterminating democracy in Texas by stealing congressional districts. This is a war profiteer who proudly declared, "Nothing is more important in the face of a war than cutting taxes."

Okay, you get the point. We could write a 50-volume encyclopedia of Tom DeLay hypocrisy and just begin to scratch the surface.

So as someone once told BuzzFlash, when something seems so overwhelming, just take it one hypocrisy at a time.

That's why this week we just want to point out that Tom DeLay has declared that he will not allow a federal ban on assault weapons that expires this year to come up for a vote in the House of Representatives. These are the ugly, nasty, semi-automatic guns that are designed for military purposes, but gun guys claim are useful in shooting flying fish and police officers. That's right, 1/5 of our law enforcement officers are killed in the line of duty with these Uzis, Bushmasters, and AK-47s.

Not only should the ban be extended, but it should also be strengthened to include insignificantly altered assault weapons that have been manufactured since the ban went into effect in 1994. George W. Bush says he supports the ban because he knows that Americans don't want a President who believes in selling guns that kill a lot of cops. But, with a wink and a nod from Karl Rove, Bush knows that DeLay has got the message to keep an assault weapons ban bill from ever coming to a vote. That way Bush won't have to appear like a hypocrite, even though he really is one.
So the next time a police officer is shot and killed with an assault weapon, just thank Tom DeLay, the 16th GOP BuzzFlash Hypocrite of the Week.

He will be making many return appearances, you can be assured of that.

Until next week then, remember the BuzzFlash slogan: So many Republican Hypocrites, so little time.

Catch up with you soon.

A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL

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Also see:

"'Officer Down': Assault Weapons and the War on Law Enforcement," Violence Policy Center

"GOP Will Let Gun Ban Expire," Washington Post

"The Power of the Gun Lobby," New York Times

Tom DeLay chooses between our children's future and the fat cats, A Flash Animation

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