Since getting out of prison, Tom DeLay has made periodic forays into the political spotlight. (You might have expected–in light of his still-recent incarceration and general humiliation–that he would show some shame or remorse, but he appears incapable of either.) Every once in a while, there will be a reported “sighting,” accompanied by an idiotic quote, all of which has been worth ignoring, perhaps with an eye roll or shrug.
But The Raw Story has a quote that is men-in-the-white-coats jaw dropping.
Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) this week warned Americans to remember that God “wrote the Constitution” based on the Bible.
During an appearance on John Hagee Ministries’ Global Evangelism Television (GETV) network on Wednesday, host Matt Hagee asked the Texas Republican where the country had gone wrong.
“I think we got off the track when we allowed our government to become a secular government,” DeLay explained. “When we stopped realizing that God created this nation, that he wrote the Constitution, that it’s based on biblical principles.”
Lest you think I am making this up, you can watch the video at the link. (To be fair, DeLay isn’t the only lunatic recasting the nation’s charter as God-given. Remember “My God is bigger than their God” General Jerry Boykin? He recently claimed that Jesus wrote the 2d Amendment.)
This is probably a good place to start humming the theme from Twilight Zone.
Anyway, here’s my question for former Representative DeLay: If you believe that God wrote the Constitution, as well as the Ten Commandments (tablets containing those pesky prohibitions against stealing and bearing false witness), shouldn’t you be just a teensy bit worried about your immortal soul, since you rather consistently violated both?
Just asking.
Uh, Tom Delay never went to prison (he was sentence but remained free on appeal bond). Also, his conviction was overturned on appeal, so he’s actually an innocent man.
That decision is being appealed by the prosecutors.
@Aaron: Seems like I remember somewhere in my studies for my Master’s that ‘innocent’ is something known by only God and Tom. ‘Not guilty’ would be the correct term for us regular folks (and a jury) to use. We can’t know of his ‘innocence’ for sure.
Regardless of Tom’s legal status, it has become obvious that he stepped out of the shallow end of the gene pool. Fellow Texans might say, “‘At boy ain’t right!”
I’m sure that Mr. DeLay has had sufficient time and lack of conscience so that he now truly believes that he is as pure as the driven snow. That frees him up to make silly remarks like you have reported and is able to view himself as a representative of the God of American Civil Religion. Unfortunately, to do that, one must seriously engage in a revision of history and Judeo-Christian theology. Oh well, sacrificing a few facts here and there make for a good story.
Until a couple of years ago, I’d never heard the name Tom DeLay or if I had, I’d not paid any attention to the name. My introduction to DeLay was strange, for sure, and came about through a Secret Pal gift-giving experience in an IPS high school where I was a mid-level certified employee, meaning neither classroom teacher nor administrator, but rather a ‘cross-over’ hybrid blend of the two. The ‘computer lab’ specialist, a 40-something African-American man, had drawn my name randomly as his Secret Pal, and for whatever reason or thought process, he figured I’d enjoy a coffee table type book (one of those huge hard-cover books with lots of photos) written by Tom DeLay. I’m fairly quick with monitoring my facial expressions that might register any number of emotions with another person; however, I’d never heard of DeLay and perhaps my look of ‘blankness’ escaped my normal facial expression monitoring. I’m still hoping the DeLay book was on the ‘clearance table’ at Barnes and Noble and fit the man’s gift-giving budget rather than painstakingly hand-picked as reading material I’d thoroughly and completely enjoy.
Betty Westmoreland, I’d say DeLay is “all ate up with the dumbass,” also from Texas lexicon. In other words, beyond stupid, even if not guilty.