We want our elected officials to be honest with their constituents when they tell us why they voted how they did.
We also want them to be honest with themselves.
U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, says he was one of the 20 — out of 426 — representatives who voted against restoring the House's old ethics rules because he believes the new rules would have been more fair. Gohmert, a former state district judge, said, “Members of Congress have the right to due process, just as those same rights are granted to the most heinous criminals.”
That's right. But Gohmert also said the new rules had nothing to do with the fact House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has become the target of intense scrutiny for his alleged ethical breaches.
"Some people have said that the rule changes were made to protect House Majority Leader Tom DeLay," Gohmert told The Lufkin Daily News. "But ... the fact is the rules were there to protect everyone, including a couple of Democrats that were also under investigation."
Please.
If Gohmert really believes DeLay wasn't the only reason the House implemented the rule changes, he hasn't been reading the newspaper or watching the evening news. We know it takes a little while for freshmen congressmen to get their bearings, but we'd like to think Gohmert would be more in the know — and realistic — than that.
We would also like to believe that Gohmert's vote had nothing to do with the fact that DeLay's heavy hand in the Texas redistricting fiasco gave Gohmert a virtual walk in the November general election.
http://www.lufkindailynews.com/opin/content/news/opinion/stories/2005/05/01/20050501LDNeddy.html;COXnetJSessionIDbuild73=C4WiorB2RxA4DK82Ws22z1yfosGPzMagM2028UbEMJFMA1bVL5Ug!2133753300?urac=n&urvf=11151662427340.6092862929421192