Norm Ornstein People Quotations

What makes this different is it's not just a few bad apples. It's that people at the top decided to build in a kind of systemic corrupt process. That is different from what we had before.

We're not talking about Mother Teresa here who gets caught for turning right on a red light in a state that doesnt allow such a thing, ... The history of Tom DeLay in Congress is that he's pushed every envelope. It is often the case that powerful people get their comeuppance because of something that a lot of people would see as a technicality.

Any spate of news stories from now on about corruption in contracts, etc., will hurt - people will resist a major taxpayers' commitment if they think much of it will be wasted or lining the pockets of miscreants, ... That perception, unfortunately, has been reinforced by the delegation request, which editorials have called 'Louisiana looting.' The delegation needs to change its tone and strategy when it comes to getting aid. The other danger is that over time, as other disasters occur, aid becomes zero sum.

They want a group of people on the House Ethics Committee who are going to go to extraordinary lengths to keep Tom DeLay from going down or being embarrassed yet again, which embarrasses them all, they believe, with whats been going on down in Texas.

You've got a lot of people who privately view DeLay as so radioactive. It's not just the Texas stuff, in some ways the Texas stuff is the least of it.