WASHINGTON — Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay bid farewell to the chamber Thursday the same way he wielded his power for more than a decade -- by attacking Democrats and making no apology for partisanship.
"You show me a nation without partisanship, and I'll show you a tyranny," DeLay (R-Texas) said in a speech on the House floor.
Only a few dozen Democrats attended the beginning of the speech, and most walked out as DeLay launched into a scathing attack on liberalism.
"In any place or any time on any issue, what does liberalism ever seek?" he asked. "More -- more government, more taxation, more control over people's lives and decisions and wallets."
He also asserted that "the common lament over the recent rise in political partisanship is often nothing more than a veiled complaint instead about the recent rise of political conservatism."
DeLay, who earned the sobriquet "the Hammer" for the aggressive tactics he employed to promote conservative causes and enforce party discipline within GOP ranks, was indicted in September in Texas on charges he violated the state's campaign finance laws.
As required by Republican House rules, DeLay at that point stepped down from his leadership job, but he made clear he anticipated being cleared and reclaiming his post.
But in January, the guilty plea to federal corruption charges entered by lobbyist Jack Abramoff turned DeLay into a political liability in the view of many Republican lawmakers. DeLay and Abramoff were once close associates, and two of DeLay's former aides also have pleaded guilty in the corruption case.
Faced with no quick resolution of the Texas case and an increasingly tough reelection campaign, DeLay announced his retirement in April. It takes effect today.
In his House speech, he made only a fleeting reference to the legal woes surrounding him. He insisted he had performed his duties "honorably and honestly, as God is my witness."
In defending the hardball brand of politics he practiced and, for many, came to symbolize, he said that partisanship, "properly understood, is not a symptom of a democracy's weakness, but of its health and strength -- especially from the perspective of a political conservative."
DeLay criticized moderates for valuing compromise over principles.
"It is not the principled partisan, however obnoxious he may seem to his opponents, who degrades our public debate, but the preening, self-styled statesman who elevates compromise to a first principle," DeLay said.
