Oops...Is my slip showing?

May 27, 2003 6:12 AM

I AM the Federal Government. "L'Etat, C'est Moi", apparently said Louis XIV of France. You would have thought a guy with a French-sounding family name who also happens to be a brasshat in the US govt., would have steered clear of a modern paraphrase of a despotic 'Old Europe' monarch. Wouldn't you? (from The Seattle P-I & The Jewish World Review)Hmm, hard to find at JWR - they wouldn't have removed it, would they? Aah, but Google have it)
posted by dash_slot- (14 comments total)

FYI, this is almost two weeks old. Most people read it in the May 15 Washington Post.

Of course, it's never too late to bash Tom DeLay! :)
posted by pmurray63 at 7:11 AM on May 27, 2003

pmurray, why do you assume that most people read the washington post?
posted by signal at 7:21 AM on May 27, 2003

Yh, I knew it was there, but I found it at JWR, Buzzflash & the Seattle P-I - how many sources should I cite?

I also wonder why his assistant said he said: "I'm with the federal government." So was the restaurant manager who requested he 'put it out'. Does DeLay mean to say that federal officers or employees can flout the law, but others cannot?

Wonder why JWR has dropped it: google's cache points here: - which is a different column by the same journalist (who also got it into WaPo).

Ho-hum.
posted by dash_slot- at 7:38 AM on May 27, 2003

Schmuck.
posted by FormlessOne at 7:40 AM on May 27, 2003

Well, if he visits NYC he can puff all he wants in the Oak Bar at the Plaza Hotel, along with all the other rich and powerful asshats movers and shakers.
posted by languagehat at 7:45 AM on May 27, 2003

I believe Louis said "I am the state" which in Louis' time, would have made Delays power akin to the local dog catcher.
posted by clavdivs at 8:44 AM on May 27, 2003

Indeed it would have, clav. That was then, and this is now.

This guy is apparently only powerful enough to co-ordinate the gerrymandering of the Texas congressional districts, and the ultra vires tracking of runaway senators, too.

I see a pattern emerging: disregard for limits on power, and placing himself above the law. Very democratic.
posted by dash_slot- at 9:12 AM on May 27, 2003

This is the same dork whose office keeps calling to offer my uber left wing boss a "National Leadership Award." It's a big telemarketing scam- I'd be embarrassed if I came from his district. As it is I'm just embarrassed for them.
posted by small_ruminant at 10:27 AM on May 27, 2003

Josh Marshall has also been keeping an eye on DeLay's recent shenanigans.
posted by homunculus at 10:38 AM on May 27, 2003

There's a big difference between a federal agency and a QUASI-federal agency. Take it from me. Je suis le gouvernement quasi-fédéral!
posted by Taken Outtacontext at 11:21 AM on May 27, 2003

Wow! Homonculus - that stuff looks like much more behind the scenes 'interventions' than is usual.

Using contacts in the DoJ to stymie legitimate Voting Rights Act stipulations: this gets murkier & murkier.
posted by dash_slot- at 11:40 AM on May 27, 2003

this seems like little more than a freudian slip to me. i just don't see what the big deal is. then again, i'm not familiar with this despicable person you guys are describing.
posted by oog at 1:01 PM on May 27, 2003

You sure he was riffing on "I am the state"? Not "I am the law"? DeLay might be a closet Judge Dredd fan. Or maybe he sees himself in a gangster film. Could it have been a subtle reference to the anthrax mailings?
posted by hattifattener at 1:59 PM on May 27, 2003

oog: nor was I till recently. I guess whats going on is so unusual that I find myself reading up about it some.

Anyways, isn't a freudian slip meant to reveal the hidden meaning behind our usual speech? At least that's my understanding [see link title] - and Wikipedia's. In which case... he really did mean "I am the federal government..."

Large pinches of salt all round, of course.
posted by dash_slot- at 2:34 PM on May 27, 2003