I was somewhat concerned as I clicked on the link to Mark GreenÂ’s column on Tom DeLay. I had never read him before, and I was anticipating a sharp attack on my congressman.

I was wrong.

Instead I was treated to a defense of DeLay, and DeLayÂ’s own defense of the three rebukes he received from the Ehics Committee for non-violations of the Senateethics rules.

In an interview last month, I asked the former House majority leader to defend the three things that led the House ethics committee to wag its finger at him without finding any outright violation. His answer was a civics lesson in the form of a whiff of modern political coffee.

First, the golf fundraiser with executives of an energy company. The DeLay lesson: No one should be shocked that people with a lot of money will get to hang out with politicians. Ethical issues arise only if money or proximity sparks a dishonest change of position.

Second, the famed attempt to get the FAA to help snag the wayward Texas lawmakers who had bolted the state rather than face a losing vote on redistricting. The DeLay lesson: He sought to learn the whereabouts of these runaways so that the will of the people could be realized through a vote. And the problem with that is precisely what?

Third, the promise he offered to a retiring House colleague to support his son in a primary in return for a vote for the Bush Medicare plan. The DeLay lesson: "Happens all the time – I've traded all kinds of things to get things I wanted from other members of Congress. It's how things get done."

I cannot help but note that two of the defenses are concepts I teach in my government class. Legislators make deals all the time to get support for measures they want passed, even to the point of supporting legislation they dislike. People with money want to be people with influence so they seek to socialize with people of power – it is not a surprise and is not a problem until and unless there is a quid pro quo. And as for the FAA issue, the abandonment of one’s responsibilities as a legislator in order to prevent the will of the people being done is much more unethical than trying to locate those who are on the lam.

Posted by: Greg at 10:33 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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