Tom DeLay takes a header into the shallow end of the pool:
Explaining that Obama clinching the Democratic nomination is a good thing for John McCain, DeLay said Obama’s “weakness” is that “nobody knows him.”
“And if McCain does not define him as what he is — hey, I have said publicly, and I will again, that unless he proves me wrong, he is a Marxist,” DeLay said.
Obama can be made to look bad enough by calling him what he is: a big-government liberal. I might not like all the regulations he favors, but that’s not the same as government takeover of the means of production. Does DeLay even know what a real Marxist is, and does Obama “prove” he isn’t one?
Marxist has become just a conservative swear word meaning “so and so is a liberal,” the way Fascist has become a liberal swear word meaning “so and so is a conservative.” Let’s retire them both from the political discussion.
Opening Arguments 
June 6, 2008 at 1:26 pm
I think Obama benefits from criticism by Tom “The Corrupt” DeLay, whatever DeLay calls him. McCain does not benefit from the support of such a guy.
June 6, 2008 at 4:11 pm
You forgot to mention how Tom “the Corrupt’ uses the his comments to frame the debate – as if there was one.
Why would Barrack need to prove Tom wrong? Can Tom prove his statement? Or is it just another smear job? What proof does Tom offer that Barrack is a Marxist?
Who really cares what Tom thinks? He needs to be cast aside to the used up pile of corrupt politicians and not heard from again.
Also, I’m confused by your claim that liberals use the word fascist. I don’t think those brandishing the made up word ‘Islamofascist’ would ever be considered liberal.
June 6, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Tom Delay has never been convicted of any crime, gentlemen …regardless of your less-than-learned opinion of him.
A view from the other side of politics, via Power Line:
“Reader Michael Karounas writes:
I think your point about Obama not being a textbook Marxist in undeniable on the surface, but I would suggest that he walks and talks very much like a transnational, cultural Marxist. The traditional Marxist discourse of the economy is applied to culture so that the distinctives you mention are now defined in terms of the media (the means of production), race/gender/orientation (class), multiculturalism (dialectic), big government (state ownership), etc. Hence, the attempt to tax carbon emissions is yet another attempt to control the means of production as is the attempt to control talk radio. I don’t think we can underestimate Obama. He and his fellow travelers constitute a fifth column.”
June 7, 2008 at 12:00 am
he walks and talks very much like a transnational, cultural Marxist
I suppose you think Herbert Hoover was a Marxist, too? They share many policies, whether you’re talking about protectionism and free trade, or you’re talking about the Good Neighbor policy.
Trying to nail Barry down is difficult because he’s not really an ideologue. His mantra is process, not policy. The idea is to figure out little ways to change programs in ways that everyone can agree are an improvement.
An example is videotaping all interrogations by police. The right wing is happy to support that idea, because confessions are less likely to be thrown out by a judge. The left wing is happy to support that idea, because suspects are less likely to be abused in the interrogation process. When Barry introduced a bill to do that in Illinois, the greatest opposition came from the police unions, who apparently felt it was a perk of the job, to be able to pummel suspects….
Little changes that everyone agrees on. Agreement with Herbert Hoover on international policies. He’s not a marxist. He’s not even a liberal. He’s a genuine conservative of the Goldwater/Taft kind, a far better Republican than anyone the GOP has run since the days of Newt Gingrich. I think that’s why so many traditionally-Red states are in play.
June 7, 2008 at 9:50 pm
“Also, I’m confused by your claim that liberals use the word fascist. I don’t think those brandishing the made up word ‘Islamofascist’ would ever be considered liberal.”
Oh, fess up; liberals use the term fascist, and you are not really confused about that. There is a difference between calling political opponents names instead of engaging in real debate and trying to come up with a name for the people who want to kill us. If you don’t like Islamofascist, perhaps you would perfer terrorist or Mideast suicide bombers? Or do you think there are not people out to kill us or that there is no useful purpose in labeling them?
June 8, 2008 at 9:13 am
[…] Doesn’t Need This Kind of Help By Doug Tom DeLay (via Opening Arguments): Explaining that Obama clinching the Democratic nomination is a good thing for John McCain, DeLay […]
June 8, 2008 at 9:52 am
Jonah Goldberg, liberal.