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Does DeLay's Angry Quadriplegic Town Hall Protesters Tale Add Up?
DeLay gave this response, which piqued our interest:
Chris, you shouldn't be surprised about this. This has been going on forever. When I did my town hall meetings, I'll never forget one back in the '80s -- on health care, by the way. They brought in quadriplegics on gurneys and dumped them on the floor in front of my podium. I mean, this is not new. What's new is, the people that came into disrupt my town meetings, we just let them go on because it usually turned off the people that were there. What's happening here is the American people are on their side.
Wild stuff. Sounds like the town hall protest of the decade -- but did it actually happen?
Here at TPMmuckraker, we scoured news archives for such an incident -- and called around, including to DeLay's spokeswoman, who has not responded to questions about the episode.
Then we got a look at a May 1996 article from the Houston Chronicle about a series of protests by the disabilities advocacy group ADAPT, brought to our attention by Democratic consultant Peter Lindstrom.
It begins like this:
"Groups of protesters, most of them in wheelchairs, barricaded two local political offices Tuesday to demand changes in the way disabled people receive care in America. ... A second group of about 150 ADAPT supporters blockaded and occupied U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay's office in Sugar Land [Texas], until DeLay agreed to meet with them. "
And continues:
"Tuesday's protesters narrowly escaped arrest by Stafford police when DeLay, who is in Washington, D.C., agreed to meet with them next month."
Huh. And here, again, is what DeLay told Chris Matthews:
"When I did my town hall meetings, I'll never forget one back in the '80s -- on health care, by the way. They brought in quadriplegics on gurneys and dumped them on the floor in front of my podium."
Time tinges everyone's memories; but this seems like a bit of a stretch.
Is it possible that DeLay is thinking of the ADAPT episode -- and just replacing 90s with 80s, district office with health care town hall, protesters in wheelchairs with quadriplegics dumped from gurneys, and not-having-been-there-at-all with seeing it unfold in front of his podium?
Perhaps DeLay's story would have a little more credibility if he could simply produce its birth certificate.
Late Update: Two reporters who've covered DeLay extensively over the years say the quadriplegic story is new to them.
Josh
Zachary
Peter: I'll handle it, Lois. I read a book about this sort of thing once.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't nothing?
Peter: Oh yeah.
August 20, 2009 4:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
What's the big deal, this is as close to the truth as Delay is allowed to get; any closer and he has horrific allergic reactions. It has something to do with residual pesticide levels in his system from his days as an exterminator. He's under doctors orders.
August 20, 2009 4:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hot-tub Tom's DDT (don't do truth) levels have always been very, very high. But with any luck, 20 years from now we'll be hearing Tom's stories about his time in the federal penitentiary, about how he was unfairly singled out for prosecution, and sentenced to hard labor ... in North Korea!
August 20, 2009 5:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Send him to work in the Mariannas Islands sweatshops that he and Abramoff were involved in.
August 20, 2009 5:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Delay (and apparently many other Republican "leaders" these days) live their lives swimming in a sea of dishonesty and deceit. At this point, truth and reality are not important and seemingly not even worthy of their consideration. Tom DeLay is a horrible liar and a pathetic human being.
August 20, 2009 5:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Remember that Sizzling Swiftboat Summer when George Bush hid inside his Crawford Ranch, and refused to come out to meet Max Cleland,a triple amputee?
No Room At Ranch For Dem War Vet - CBS NewsMax Cleland Wanted To Give Bush Pro-Kerry Letter, But Is Turned Away. ... CRAWFORD, Texas, Aug. 25, 2004 ... Encountering a permanent roadblock to Bush's ranch, Cleland left without turning over the letter to anyone. ...
www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/08/25/.../main638510.shtml - Cached - Similar
Cleland in Crawford - War Room - Salon.comMax Cleland, who lost both legs and part of an arm fighting in Vietnam, ... is at the Bush ranch this afternoon, trying to deliver a letter to the president ...
www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2004/08/25/cleland/ - Similar
August 20, 2009 5:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Although a moderate Republican for years, I find there are NO Republicans I can support any longer. I really had a very difficult time the entire time G. W. Bush was President and now the Rich book validates my thinking about just how rotten the party had become. Sad to say, for me. the last 4 years of Bush were simply so dishonest I had to face up to the fact that I had to leave the party. Now everything coming out validates my decision. And in spite of a long Republican history in our family, I no longer feel guilty about leaving and actively working to defeat the swindlers and liars. I commend Mr. Ridge for his confession and only wish it had happened earlier but alas, I have to look myself in the mirror and admit, I KNEW of the malfeasance but could not face up to its reality till now. Now, I gladly support Mr. Obama and the Democratic approach to governing.
August 21, 2009 2:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
You are an honorable man with obvious intelligence; I'm sorry you had to feel guilty about leaving the party- it was they who failed you. I have often wondered what thinking people make of the GOP, and how anyone but an inbred fool could support their hypocritical inanity.
August 21, 2009 9:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
There are several Republican Senatros who show promise: those from Maine.
And note the Cliton's defense secretary, was a Maine Republican. 'Course, he was the one who broke the Republican stonewalling in the House by voting for impeaching Nixon.
Otherwise, welcome aboard: truth matters.
August 22, 2009 1:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
To be fair, DeLay was drunk at the time he made his wild claim.
August 20, 2009 5:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's what I thought. No longer drunk with power....now he's just drunk.
August 21, 2009 7:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
They're both drunk. My advice would be to just ignore them...total waste of your time.
August 21, 2009 12:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
He's just tryin' to prove the ol' ratcatcher has still got it.
August 20, 2009 5:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
The key word here is "they" as in "they brought in quadraplegics" its sounds like the quadraplegics brought they selves in and dumped on Tom they selves.
August 20, 2009 5:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Perhaps DeLay's story would have a little more credibility if he could simply produce its birth certificate."
So simple! Birth certificate s/b Gift Certificate, and the gift was being oblivious to Reality!
And this bum is considered a Leader on the other side, and I mean really, really, really other side!
August 20, 2009 5:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
I won't accept it unless it's the Long Form (tm).
August 22, 2009 1:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, Tom: How about in honor of our troops, ya just stop makin' stuff up?
August 20, 2009 5:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, he ordered the dumping of quads to act as human shields while he was undergoing sniper fire and running for cover in Bosnia.
August 20, 2009 5:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why does Matthews even have this guy on his show? He not only brings him on, he acts like they are best friends and haven't seen each other for twenty years. Delay is a lying criminal that did a lot of damage to this country. He no longer holds office and what he thinks or has to say is irrelevant to the present. At least when he appears on DWTS the viewers won't have to listen to him speak. Of course, the typical DWTS viewer probably doesn't have clue who he is either since they are unlikely to be people that acutally follow news and politics.
August 20, 2009 5:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah!
August 20, 2009 5:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why does anybody even watch Matthews. This guy suffers from some kind of bipolar disorder at the very least. One day he's on = the next day he's off. One day he's a rethug, the next day he's a democrat.
One thing I do know is this guy was raised in a right wing conservative home and that crap sticks with you like glue unless you are willing to wash it off. I know. I grew up in a poor, right wing conservative home in Pennsylvania. I left and got a taste of the real world and it opened my eyes. My siblings stayed and the ones that are still alive are stuck in the same rut. The worst part about it is that they are so much like the crazies at the TH meetings because they are proud to admit they don't like politics or pay much attention but whatever information they do get, they get from Fox News. Needless to say, we do not have any type of meaningful conversations with each other.
August 20, 2009 5:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
DeLay has obviously hired a media consultant. See also his upcoming turn on "Dancing With the Stars."
As a resident of TX CD-22, I'm more than a little concerned that Tom is going to go for another ride on the gravy train.
August 21, 2009 10:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hey go easy on DWTS, not their fault Delay is a lying scoundrel. Just sorry to see him get any exposure. Hope he trips and sprawls across the floor. Just vote strategically for the worse dancer (unless it is Delay).
August 21, 2009 2:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
OK, Repugs have bad memories on the small stuff, they often lie distort reality and make up stories for political reasons, but Republicans would never go to war and send Americans to their deaths based on lies and for political advantage friends....
August 20, 2009 5:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bwaa haa haaaa!! Good one! Made me laugh (at the irony of the statement) and incredibly angry at the same time (because they would and have).
August 20, 2009 6:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
...it ah... was bad intelligence...Rummy's fault..the Germans believed the stuff too, OK, the Germans don't order US invasions...Iraq-no the world is better off now...Saddam was gaming the system...oil for food and that stuff.
OK, Bush did it just to get Saddam's gun, so what!
August 20, 2009 7:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
I spent 6 hours today scouring the archives of the Houston Chronicle, I pulled every article from 1985 - 1989 that mentioned Tom Delay, I FOUND NO NEWS ARTICLES PERTAINING TO QUADRIPLEGICS BROUGHT INTO HIS TOWN HALL MEETINGS ON GURNEY'S AND BEING DUMPED AT HIS FEET. None what-so-ever. And I read a load of crap in those articles. My eyes are tired. But I would like to repeat, there was nothing in any article in the Houston Chronicle Archives pertaining to anything he said.
August 20, 2009 6:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Know the feeling.
August 20, 2009 6:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
thanks for the research!
August 20, 2009 7:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
It was probably an unreported miracle: the reporters arrived after he had Christianly healed the quodraplegics and they'd gone home.
August 22, 2009 1:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
Tom DeLay is a theocratic fascist.
August 20, 2009 6:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yea, what I don't understand is:
a) How this disgraced, corrupt goon has the chutzpah to show his face in public - let alone opine on any issue on a talk show
b) Why Chris Matthews wants to give any kind of platform to this disgraced, corrupt goon.
Back in the old days when a politician disgraced himself as corrupt, he basically disappeared from public view and spent the rest of his life contemplating his sins, doing charity work...Now, the public attention span seems to be as short as a few 24 hour news cycles and neanderthals like Tom DeLay feel emboldened to rear their slimy heads a second time around.
August 20, 2009 6:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lying is like a second language for these people
Tey just cant help themselves
August 20, 2009 6:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lying is their native tongue. English is their "second language" (in the case of Sarah Palin, not so much!)
August 20, 2009 6:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Definitely "not so much". What a pair they would make. Delay/Palin ticket for 2012 - anyone.
August 21, 2009 2:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Delay is barking mad and might be telling the truth as he perceives it. He may have hallucinated quadriplegics being dumped in front of him. I'm only half kidding.
August 20, 2009 7:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
He's drunk... Listen to how he talks.
August 20, 2009 7:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Tom DeLay built a career on dissembling and obstufication; why it should surprise anyone that he's lying this time, I don't know. Seems like a "Man Bites Dog" kind of story.
August 20, 2009 7:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
You mean Tom Delay, a right wing Republican, lies? **GASP**
August 21, 2009 1:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
tom delay..
arent you the one,
who was also involved in the enron scandal?
as in this article right here:
http://www.cpusa.org/article/view/348/
"the last tango: enron and bush" by tim wheeler
think he needs to bring his dancing tango shoes, to wiggle out of this one.
August 21, 2009 4:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
Is it just me, or does anyone else see the resemblance between the Exterminator and the repressed homosexual murdering marine in American Beauty?
August 21, 2009 7:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
Lets face it - ALL REPUBLICAN LEADERS ARE COWARDLY BOMB THROWERS
August 21, 2009 9:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
Are there any repukes who can tell the truth? I think not.
And by the way, what the hell does Delay have to do with health care reform? Thank God he's out of government, he'd be worse than the ones that are there now.
I don't remember any Town Halls or Hells during the 80's or 90's.
August 21, 2009 11:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
Uh oh, sounds a bit like a Hillary-dodging-bullets memory.
August 21, 2009 9:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Was anyone SMEARED in that instance? Was anyone discriminated against on the basis of disability?
Right: you not only wouldn't know the difference, but wouldn't care what the facts were: all that matters is that you express your hatred in effort to change the subject.
Slug.
August 22, 2009 1:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
That was abusive and not necessary. Verified made an interesting observation, albeit one that you took umbrage with, but instead of engaging in a dialogue, you resorted to name-calling. The only person expressing hatred was you. Liberal haters are no better than conservative haters.
August 27, 2009 9:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
The topic of the blog is Tom Delay -- not Hillary Clinton. The hater is the person who endeavored to defend Delay -- who couldn't be defended, or for whom the hater couldn't invent defense -- by irresponsibly changing the subject to one the far-right lunatic fringe has always hated -- Hillary Clinton -- apparently because she is comepetent, and they are not.
August 27, 2009 8:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
delay and chrissy poo is the real joke, whatever goes on between those two chrissy poo just giggles and smiles like a schoolboy and his first crush,, its one big flutter your eyes and giggles and more giggles for chrissy and delay always can get on the show, notice that he appears no place else,,,, mathews will be glued to his tv set when he dances for sure, everytime hes on the show its the same, chrissy poo and besides thats just what we need is delay telling us how to run our country, why is it all the crooks and liars keep popping into ourshows like they are really important even after they've shown us just how crooked they really are! Must be the ratings game and chrissys great love!
August 22, 2009 9:06 AM | Reply | Permalink