-Caveat Lector-
>From http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30614-2002May4.html
>>>Wasn't this the same SOB who almost got his s**t blowd away by the "lone nut"?
The same guy who demonstrated "Don't Mess With Texas" by ducking behind
desks? <<<
}}}>Begin
washingtonpost.com
DeLay Diplomacy
By Mary McGrory
Sunday, May 5, 2002; Page B07
For House Democrats, a vote for solidarity with Israel meant solidarity with
Republican Whip Tom DeLay, who reminds them of Newt Gingrich. Such liberal
luminaries as Democratic Whip Nancy Pelosi, the House's leading advocate for
human rights, Barney Frank, the usually remorseless critic of House follies, and John
Lewis, who spent much of his youth in jail for civil rights, were among the 352 who
voted aye for DeLay's flier in diplomacy.
The resolution was nonbinding, which was some comfort to those with misgivings.
They know it will not stop suicide bombers or muzzle Yasser Arafat or halt the tanks
of Ariel Sharon. What it will mostly do, Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) observed glumly
during the floor debate, is make us the "laughing stock of the world."
None was rude enough to mention the crass political reality that DeLay is also an an
evangelist, and that he made an incautious statement in Pearland, Tex., April 12 that
sounded like a warning to non-Christians that they might not be saved. "Christianity is
the only way," he said at the First Baptist Church. Fervent promotion of a resolution
that might have been written by the Israel lobby, AIPAC, was seen as a powerful
antidote -- so powerful that it might even open up to the GOP the large, rich, heavily
participatory Jewish constituency that has hitherto belonged to Democrats.
An election year is no time for nuances. A member could easily brush aside a charge
that he or she was "no friend of Israel" if opposed to DeLay, by citing a lifelong
record
of Zionism and explaining that it is possible to love Israel while deploring the
tactics
of Ariel Sharon. As for the unspoken accusations of anti-Semitism, they hung in the
air like cobwebs.
Administration objections to Capitol Hill kibitzing were known. It was a moment of
peak tension: a fire in the Church of the Nativity, Sharon's tanks poised for a new
West Bank assault, the cancellation of a U.N. mission to investigate the rubble of
Jenin and the announcement of a new Mideast parley. It did seem an ideal moment
for adult inaction. But the die was cast at a Tuesday meeting at the White House.
Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle announced the restiveness among his
horses, who were hot to trot for Israel; Tom DeLay announced he couldn't hold his,
and the derby was on.
The Senate voted 94-2 for a resolution sponsored by Joe Lieberman, who makes no
secret of his ambition to be on a national ticket again. It was somewhat milder than
DeLay's in that it didn't castigate Yasser Arafat.
Only Sens. Robert Byrd and Fritz Hollings voted no. They are both old enough to
remember the 1964 Tonkin Gulf resolution of Lyndon Johnson, another ill-timed
congressional resolution endorsing military action. The resolution was waved around
at hearings for years as justification for the Vietnam War. It helped engender the tide
of wrath and tears that eventually overcame Lyndon Johnson. Only two held out in
1964, Sens. Ernest Gruening and Wayne Morse.
House Republicans, usually sticklers for loyalty, quite easily rationalized resistance
to
George Bush's objections. They took a cue from Binyamin Netanyahu, who, on a
recent U.S. tour, announced that George Bush, whatever he was saying, was on
Israel's side. He might talk evenhanded -- "on the days he talks to Colin Powell," in
the cloakroom formulation -- but he wasn't kidding when he called Ariel Sharon "a
man of peace."
Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) bravely introduced a resolution with an unashamedly
balanced approach. The former head of the Progressive Caucus in the House was
able to muster only 13 co-sponsors. DeFazio said he found it "stunning" that the
House would want to go on record with a resolution that positioned it "to the right of
Ariel Sharon and the Likud Party."
But that's exactly what the House wanted to do, and Tom DeLay made it easy for
them. He arranged a rule that forbade any amendment to his resolution and banned
the introduction of any substitute or alternative amendment.
When DeFazio took to the floor with his passionate plea for "balance" and noted that
"Ariel Sharon engaged in a provocative foray to the Temple Mount to foster his
political ambitions, he provided the spark that ignited the fuel of Arafat and the
current violence," he spoke to empty chairs.
Tom DeLay had a capacity audience for his closing speech, picturing Israel in a fight
for survival against terrorism. He had cleaned up the floor with his unaccustomed
allies, the liberals. They must console themselves with the thought that outraged
Arabs will be further outraged by this show of intemperance, helping to defer Bush's
much-desired war with Iraq.
Thursday's work may turn out to be a heavily disguised move for peace. The
bombers will not be heading for Baghdad anytime soon.
� 2002 The Washington Post Company
End<{{{
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