"DeLay thinks of Karl as a former mail vendor, not some great guru."

[kpete]

From the Magazine | Nation
Bush and DeLay: Never A Texas Two-Step
The Bush Administration sees the former House majority leader as a necessary burden
By MIKE ALLEN AND MATTHEW COOPER
SUBSCRIBE TO TIMEPRINTE-MAILMORE BY AUTHOR
Posted Sunday, Jan. 08, 2006
When legal and ethical questions began spinning around House majority leader Tom DeLay last year, President George W. Bush was publicly supportive. Privately, though, he questioned his fellow Texan's mojo.

Bush had scored 10 points higher than DeLay in the Representative's district in 2004, and that was only after Bush had recorded a telephone message to help rally local Republicans. "I can't believe I had to do robocalls for him," the President said bitingly to an Oval Office visitor.

To people who know Bush well, the remark said it all about the longtime chill between the two pols—a distance that is only sure to grow with former lobbyist Jack Abramoff's guilty plea. Both camps describe the two conservative Texans' relationship as professional—an alliance, not a friendship. "DeLay admires Bush's leadership but still thinks of himself as the strongest conservative on the block," a DeLay friend says. "They perceive DeLay as a bull in a china shop. They appreciate him as their protector and retriever." Like many of his colleagues on Capitol Hill, DeLay suffers under what officials call this Administration's general lack of respect for Congress. But he is also in the unique position of being the most prominent modern Republican politician in Texas to rise without the help of White House senior adviser Karl Rove, and the two have never been close. "Karl thinks of him as someone a little bit too opinionated for his own good," says an official close to both men.

"And DeLay thinks of Karl as a former mail vendor, not some great guru."
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1147135,00.html

[msongs]

1. wow, 2 republicans who are BOTH correct hehe nt

[tularetom]

3. lolol

So true. I also like my wife's reaction to Delay. "He walks like a girl!" That should make him real popular in prison.

[Surya Gayatri]

9. Reminds me of a routine

from the Stephanie Miller show at the time of his Texas indictment. She pretended to be reading him his "Miranda rights"--saying "You have the right to decide whose 'beeyetch' you'll be in the Big House". Funny then, and coming closer with each new scandal. SG
:rofl:

P.S. Not condoning prison rape, I hasten to add.

[morningglory]

10. Oh, I think the makeup, hair dye, eye job and capped teeth, all sparkly,

white...oh, yes, everyone will want him for a girlfriend.

[salin]

2. GOP in Congress vs Rove /Bush

going to be an interesting year. So many competing self-interest issues - Gopers want to get reelected in 2006; Rove believed his next job (for which he believed he had already set the foundation) was to leave the GOP on the hill so strong that there would be a 50 year reign of one-party rule; Bush is a vindictive leader who can't stand anyone acting against him - and he is now fighting for his legacy.

Hill GOPers, to get reelected, have to decide whether to run away from DeLay (and while he may leave, his influence and money machine - for now - are in tact), from the WH (whose policies are even less popular than the president). There will be h*ll to pay for running away from either.

And where will the RWNM end up ? Supporting Bushco at the expense of maintaining control in Congress? Supporting Congress and throwing bush out (in terms of favorable coverage) as a sacraficial lamb in order to better chances of keeping Congress and hoping the public blames ill on person (bush) not party so that they have a hope in 2008? And what will the churlish WH due in response if the noise machine turns against bush?

:popcorn:

[acmejack]

4. What a wonderful line!

"Bracing for the worst, Administration officials obtained from the Secret Service a list of all the times Abramoff entered the White House complex, and they scrambled to determine the reason for each visit. Bush aides are also trying to identify all the photos that may exist of the two men together."

[European Socialist]

5. Bush and Delay have one thing in common--corruption up the ying yang.

[Surya Gayatri]

6. Let their animus rise

to the surface and make them cannibalize each other in public. May their loathing for one another overcome any instinct for tribal preservation. Come on, come clean guys--we know you hate each other's guts. Just let it all hang out! SG
:evilgrin:

[PDittie]

7. Bugman vs. Postman

Fear and loathing run amuck.

Machiavelli was a piker compared to these two sociopaths.

[Cassandra]

8. I love watching the knives come out.

Class warfare! :popcorn: