King: Why we voted to protect DeLay if he's indicted

[leQ]

from the Des Moines Register:

...

After three to four hours of internal debate, and testimony from three former Texas judges and members of the Republican Conference, who argued, "You can indict a ham sandwich in Texas," it became clear that not just DeLay but speaker Dennis Hastert or any other leader could be summarily removed from a position of leadership by a purely politically motivated county attorney in any one of the thousands of counties in America.

Given the recent partisan bitterness, it was clear to me that we had a short-sighted rule that gives the automatic power to remove the majority leader of the U.S. Congress to a Massachusetts district attorney, for example. This takes the interference of the legislative branch of government by the judicial branch to another level.

Consequently, we amended the rule to automatically remove a leader from his or her position immediately upon conviction, rather than indictment. However, actions that bring shame upon Congress must be addressed immediately. The new rule states that, in the event of an indictment from any legitimate legal authority in America, including county attorneys, the steering committee must meet immediately to evaluate the relevant merits of the indictment and make a recommendation to the full conference as to what action, if any, should be taken.

(there's more)

it should be noted that king is iowa's representative who has embarrassed iowa countless times in the past with his ignorance and bigotry.

[Ardee]

1. I'll take him at his word

and expect, upon the conviction of DeLay, his immediate removal from any position of authority within the party.......

[bullimiami]

3. Upon the conviction.

He needs to be removed from any association with the party.
He can apply for reinstatement after he serves his sentence.

[flyingfysh]

6. they'll just change the rules again

If it looks like Delay is likely to be convicted, they'll change it to remove him if the appeals are exhausted. They can just claim it is easy to get an unfair conviction.

[ClassWarrior]

2. I've never seen a fucking ham sandwich betray our precious democracy.

NGU.

[ClassWarrior]

4. .

[ClassWarrior]

7. .

[ClassWarrior]

9. .

[Raster]

10. how many ham sandwiches called "the hammer" do you know of?

Other than your sister Rosie's, who can't even boil water?... her ham sandwich should be called "chain saw" but that's a different story.

[bemildred]

5. Surely this fellow is not casting aspersions on the Texas legal system?

This is an outrage.
:-)

[Judi Lynn]

8. Would this have ever come up if a Democrat

happened to be the majority leader?

What am I thinking? They've been so civilized regarding Democrats to this point.



Steve King.



Former Congressguy, Gary Condit, R.I.P. politically.

[Skittles]

11. no, it's because you are slimy, hipocritical, unethical bastards

period

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Skittles]

13. because asshole republicans rule in Texas?

nt