BCT Editorial – 5/16/05

This page was last updated on May 22, 2005.

Salutes & Boots; Editorial; Beaver County Times; May 16, 2005.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“Boot: To U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart, R-4, Bradford Woods, for having a short memory. While speaking at a Beaver County Chamber of Commerce breakfast on May 6, Hart slammed the national media for ‘sort of, hyping of the ethics issue’ that has dogged House Majority Leader Rep. Tom DeLay. What Hart seems to forget is the media-fueled frenzy in regard to the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky mess and the skill with which former House Speaker Newt Gingrich manipulated the system and the media to topple Democratic House Speaker Jim Wright. Hart apparently has forgotten that what is good for the goose is good for the gander.”

[RWC] If I hadn’t read Times editorials for so long, I would be surprised one of them would try to equate the current Tom DeLay dustup with what happened to Bill Clinton and Jim Wright.

Let’s look at history for context.

Jim Wright was not forced to resign because “House Speaker Newt Gingrich manipulated the system and the media.” At the time of Wright’s problems (1987 – 1989), Newt Gingrich was not Speaker, Wright was. That’s because Democrats controlled the House with a far greater majority (260 – 175) than Republicans enjoy today (231 - 202). Republicans would not be the House majority party until 1995. Though Gingrich led the charge against Wright, Gingrich was not even a House Republican leader at the time.

Wright’s chief problem – there were others – was that a book deal of his skirted House rules about outside income. In summary, it was alleged Wright had a deal with the Teamsters Union among others to purchase his book in bulk to drive up his royalties. Even Democrats eventually realized Wright’s actions were indefensible. Between the Democrat majority and the liberal-leaning press, there’s no way Wright could have been forced out by mere innuendo.

As Wright, Bill Clinton generated his own problems. First, Clinton – a married man – had a sexual relationship with an intern young enough to be his daughter. Second, their liaisons were held in the White House, in a room adjoining the Oval Office. Third, Clinton lied under oath about his relationship with Ms. Lewinsky during depositions for Paula Jones’ sexual harassment lawsuit and the judge cited Clinton for contempt of court.

Compare those facts with allegations against Rep. DeLay. To date, no one claims DeLay did anything illegal. Regarding ethics charges, if DeLay did anything wrong, it appears he has a lot of company in the House. Even liberal outlets like The Washington Post have recently reported many other representatives – including Democrats in leadership positions – appear to be “guilty” of the same charges. The chief accusation against DeLay concerns a trip taken eight years ago. Democrats were also on the trip and had their expenses paid by the same organization, yet no one has filed charges against them, yet.

Finally, you need look no further than the Times for evidence Ms. Hart’s claim is credible. In a period of four weeks, the Beaver County Times alone published four editorials attacking Rep. DeLay despite admitting there’s no evidence he did anything illegal.