# A scummy child-molesting Republican. What a shock. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 9, 2016, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738 "2016-04-09T23:43:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/61 "2016-04-11T01:01:17Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > …The Republicans made asses of themselves going after Clinton. They played vicious, partisan politics. And they got hammered in the polls for doing so. But they didn’t impeach Clinton for a blowjob, no matter how many times you, or others, say it. If anybody said that, they were wrong. But that kind of obfuscates the point, which is, to quote the New York Times, that “the House’s impeachment debate turned more than ever into a discourse on sin and morality in politics”. In the court of public opinion, that’s really what Clinton was on trial for. Here’s the more complete context: Hours before Mr. Clinton was impeached for his efforts to cover up his affair with Ms. Lewinsky, Mr. Livingston, who had been chosen to succeed Mr. Gingrich, shocked the House by announcing he would leave Congress because of revelations of his own adulterous affairs. With a sex scandal now consuming one of their own, the House’s impeachment debate turned more than ever into a discourse on sin and morality in politics. Representative Tom DeLay of Texas, the House majority whip, who had helped make Mr. Livingston the Speaker-designate and has been one of the fiercest critics of Mr. Clinton, choked back tears as he praised Mr. Livingston. He said his friend ‘‘understood what this debate was all about.’’ ‘‘It was about honor and decency and integrity and the truth,’’ Mr. DeLay said, his voice breaking, ''everything that we honor in this country." [http://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/20/us/impeachment-overview-clinton-impeached-he-faces-senate-trial-2d-history-vows-job.html?pagewanted=all](http://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/20/us/impeachment-overview-clinton-impeached-he-faces-senate-trial-2d-history-vows-job.html?pagewanted=all) You will also note the pivotal role played here by Tom DeLay (R), of Texas, in the matter of his tearful declaration that this was all about “honor and decency and integrity and the truth … everything that we honor in this country”. About which distinguished Republican representative so concerned with “honor and decency and integrity and the truth” the following was later in the news: Following petition drives by citizens and organizations asking that DeLay be removed from office and official admonishments by the United States House Committee on Ethics, DeLay was charged in 2005 with money laundering and conspiracy charges related to illegal campaign finance activities aimed at helping Republican candidates for Texas state office in the 2002 elections. The indictment was sought by Ronnie Earle, the Democratic former District Attorney of Travis County (which includes the state capital of Austin). A first grand jury rejected Earle’s indictment attempt, but a second grand jury issued an indictment for one count of criminal conspiracy on September 28, 2005. On October 3, a third grand jury indicted DeLay for the more serious offense of money laundering. An arrest warrant was issued on October 19, 2005, and DeLay turned himself in the next day to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office in Houston. In accordance with House Republican Conference rules, DeLay temporarily resigned from his position as House Majority Leader. On January 7, 2006, after pressure from fellow Republicans, he announced that he would not seek to return to the post. On June 9, 2006, he resigned from Congress. > **[Tom DeLay](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_DeLay#Campaign_finance_activities)** > > Thomas Dale DeLay (/dəˈleɪ/; born April 8, 1947) is an American author and retired politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives. A Republican, DeLay represented Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1985 until 2006. He served as House majority leader from 2003 to 2005. > DeLay began his political career in 1978 when he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives. He was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1984. In 1988, DeLay was appo... ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/62 "2016-04-11T02:58:03Z")
As to the Wilde hijack, I’d just like someone to point me to the ‘family values’ platform he was running on. Never seemed like that kind of fellow to me, blatantly behaving all naughty like, but apparently I missed this. So, thanks ever so much for whoever cites it. You’ll be a peach. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/63 "2016-04-11T05:53:56Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > As to the Wilde hijack, I’d just like someone to point me to the ‘family values’ platform he was running on. Never seemed like that kind of fellow to me, blatantly behaving all naughty like, but apparently I missed this. So, thanks ever so much for whoever cites it. You’ll be a peach. Why a hijack ? The act for which Mr. Hastert is being excoriated is the very same that brought Wilde down; not the act that dare not speak it’s name, but the act of oral sex with young boys, in the earlier case extremely poor, of those saved by Dr. Barnado who did it for the money. In one case the same thing is condemned and in the other is praiseworthy. And although not a politician — vice _can_ exist outside elected office — apart from his magnificent [later] poetry ( prose was more variable ), as a good Victorian Wilde was rather of a moralising bent and was happily married with wife and children, quite publicly and not even as a cover; he wasn’t wholly, nor even primarily, gay. Plus,\* quelle surprise\*, he was a devout christian. I doubt in each case that the happy husband returned home at night to relate his sucking adventures with the ragamuffin class. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/64 "2016-04-11T10:38:52Z")
> [@Askthepizzaguy](#): > > I join the fray, and I’m sure that means I lose points too. Damnit, I’d been hoping it meant pizza night! ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/65 "2016-04-11T11:46:24Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Sorry, but the folks playing semantics are the one changing the actual words on the impeachment papers to something that’s not there. That isn’t the rest of us playing semantics; it’s only you playing the fool. The only way the Republicans had to make their predetermined conclusion be presentable to their faithful as anything other than sheer spite was to phrase it the way they did. The rest of us all knew it at the time, and ever since, too. It’s high time you realized it too. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/66 "2016-04-11T15:03:07Z")
I’m sorry, I’m confused. Since when has Oscar Wilde been \*praised \*for seducing young men and boys? ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/67 "2016-04-11T15:10:18Z")
> [@andros](#): > > I’m sorry, I’m confused. Since when has Oscar Wilde been \*praised \*for seducing young men and boys? Are you demanding a higher standard for thread shitting? You want it to be fact based as well? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/68 "2016-04-11T15:31:12Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > Why a hijack ? The act for which Mr. Hastert is being excoriated is the very same that brought Wilde down; not the act that dare not speak it’s name, but the act of oral sex with young boys, in the earlier case extremely poor, of those saved by Dr. Barnado who did it for the money. > > In one case the same thing is condemned and in the other is praiseworthy. You’re probably confused because they both have the word climax used about them but the things that Oscar Wilde was praised for are called plays, not blowjobs. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/69 "2016-04-11T17:58:39Z")
> [@andros](#): > > I’m sorry, I’m confused. Since when has Oscar Wilde been \*praised \*for seducing young men and boys? I would imagine his stock will lower — as with his admirers George Bernard Shaw and Kipling — since for current generations ‘_Poetry of the '90s_’ means Cobain and the Pet Shop Boys rather than Henley or Dowson, and few can get through **The Soul of Man under Socialism** ,let alone the long walk of\*\* De Profundis\*\*; but now, after half a dozen films about him and millions of queer-theory words written, he is _mostly_ known and hailed as a Gay Hero and champion of unconventional love — and those guttersnipe experiences were about the sum total of his physical excursions into homosexuality. So, _ **as** _ a Gay Hero — which would have annoyed him immensely — for what else is he praised ? Still, out of that horror came **Reading Gaol** , and I have loved that since I was 9… ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/70 "2016-04-11T19:50:58Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > An arrest warrant was issued on October 19, 2005, and DeLay turned himself in the next day to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office in Houston. In accordance with House Republican Conference rules, DeLay temporarily resigned from his position as House Majority Leader. On January 7, 2006, after pressure from fellow Republicans, he announced that he would not seek to return to the post. On June 9, 2006, he resigned from Congress. > [Tom DeLay - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_DeLay#Campaign_finance_activities%5B/INDENT%5D) What happened next? ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/71 "2016-04-11T19:56:31Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > What happened next? Well, I imagine the second he no longer had the job, he went home, sucked off a couple rentboys while sobbing and white-knuckling a bible. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/72 "2016-04-11T20:28:18Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > What happened next? If I may quote the OP: > [@](#): > > Or that since he’s not actually being convicted of (insert crime here), then it never actually occurred. Because someone has to be actually convicted of a crime, and exhausted all appeals before it ever actually happened. As we know, the Law is the final arbiter of reality. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/73 "2016-04-11T20:40:47Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > What happened next? I give up reading they thread because it’s all downhill from here? Can I expect the next 5 pages to be you defending the moral character of Tom DeLay because he won on appeal? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/74 "2016-04-11T20:52:01Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > I give up reading they thread because it’s all downhill from here? > > Can I expect the next 5 pages to be you defending the moral character of Tom DeLay because he won on appeal? And people gave me shit for predicting this… But to be fair, I did not predict the “Oscar Wilde was only known for sucking dicks, and you liberals celebrate that all the time” gambit. I had no idea about the Oscar Wilde dick sucking celebrations. I must have missed my invite this year. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/75 "2016-04-11T21:02:53Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > What happened next? It turned out that it was all a terrible misunderstanding, and DeLay was not only reinstated as House Majority Leader but was eventually elevated to sainthood? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/76 "2016-04-11T23:14:27Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > Why a hijack ? The act for which Mr. Hastert is being excoriated is the very same that brought Wilde down; not the act that dare not speak it’s name, but the act of oral sex with young boys, in the earlier case extremely poor, of those saved by Dr. Barnado who did it for the money. It’s actually not. The act that brought Wilde down was having sex with the adult son of the Marquess of Queensbury (Yes, that [Marquess of Queensbury](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Douglas,_9th_Marquess_of_Queensberry).), and then suing the latter for libel. I’m also unaware that Wilde spent his career in the House of Commons, and as Prime Minister, supporting anti-gay legislation. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2016, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/77 "2016-04-11T23:20:06Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > What happened next? I, for one, would appreciate it if instead of popping into this thread to defend DeLay, you’d criticize Hastert. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/78 "2016-04-12T01:31:31Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > What happened next? > [@Frank](#): > > I, for one, would appreciate it if instead of popping into this thread to defend DeLay, you’d criticize Hastert. In defense of **wolfpup** , he wasn’t selectively quoting stuff to damn Delay. In fact, Delay was only tangential to the narrative he was trying to establish concerning the Clinton impeachment. So there is actually no need for **Bricker** to defend Delay in this instance, nor do I think it’s fair to call out **wolfpup** for selective editing and, by implication, posting in bad faith (which I think **Bricker** was doing). Now, can we stop derailing this thread over people who are not Denis Hastert? ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/79 "2016-04-12T04:02:54Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > for current generations ‘_Poetry of the '90s_’ means Cobain and the Pet Shop Boys rather than Henley or Dowson, and few can get through **The Soul of Man under Socialism** ,let alone the long walk of\*\* De Profundis\*\* Shall we get of your lawn, too? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2016, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/80 "2016-04-12T07:52:02Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > The news reports implied heavily that he was into performing oral sex on straight teenage boys. To be strictly accurate, only 3 of the 4 we know about were straight. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738.md?page=5)