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The Left, Tom Delay and Dancing With The Stars

Posted by PATRICK EDABURN in Arts & Entertainment, At TMV, Media, Miscellaneous, Politics, Society.
Oct 6th, 2009 | Comments

I must confess that I have not been a huge fan of Dancing With The Stars, my viewing is usually limited to catching highlights if they happen to have a contestant I find interesting. I’m also not particularly a fan of former Congressman Tom Delay, I found him to be arrogant in his attitude towards his peers and his rivals.

However when I heard he was going to be on DWTS this season I was interested enough to check things out and was surprised to find he’s actually pretty good. Not as smooth or practiced as a Donny Osmond but still he was pretty good from a purely technical standpoint.

Today it was announced that he will be pulling out due to stress fractures in both feet. My reaction was relatively neutral, I was sorry to see him go under such circumstances and I hope that he gets better quickly. But I can’t say I was horribly broken up by his departure.

But I was disappointed, if not particularly surprised, by the reaction on the left. The Huffington Post in particular has been following the show and the comments have ranged from indifference to outright hostility towards him. Many have implied, and some have outright said, that they are happy for his pain and suffering. The comments about his performance have been largely cruel and vindictive.

Now I do understand that for many on the left he is the man you love to hate, but I don’t see why such hate has to continue years after he is out of office and when he is on a silly reality show. I’ve got plenty of people on the left and the right who I don’t care for and some who I fervently hope will be retired from public office. But I don’t wish them pain and suffering, I don’t see the need to attack them personally.

If Nancy Pelosi or Charlie Rangel showed up on one of these shows I probably wouldn’t root for them, and as is the case with Delay I wouldn’t particularly care if they lost or had to leave the show. But I’d feel badly that they were hurt and I’d wish them the best in trying something new.

I am well aware that people on both the left and the right have spewed venom and their political rivals and some have even celebrated the pain and death of those rivals. But that is pretty classless behavior and I would think that in something as innocuous as DWTS we could put those things aside.

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AustinRoth

Calling joeaudio, joeudio, you out there? Care to comment here?

Besides simply admitting I was right?

archangel

Thanks Patrick, for your take. It was good to read. I had a slightly different take on Mr. DeLay's dancing ability. Coming from a family where the tribal people from the Old Country dance vigorously and often from the time they are babies and the men in particular are strong dancers at every opportunity, gatherings, weddings, funerals, other ceremonies, Tom DeLay would be respectfully allowed to dance but he would dance alone, for he'd be considered, I'm afraid, comic relief, rather than a real dancer.

I did catch the film clip and deLay's version of being "sexy" with the song "wild thing" with him mouthing what he apparently thought to be a sexy Elvis sneer (not even close) made the young (and older) women in our family go Ewwww, gross! and his awkward hip gyrations mimicking sexual intercourse, were just embarrassing to watch (for this woman, anyway). Most men are far far more graceful and 'inhabiting their bodies fully' than poor Mr. DeLay.

That he has fractures in his feet must hurt, and I'm sorry for that. But also, likely most anyone who has sat at a desk or in a chair all their lives long, might not be able to be an endurance dancer without injuring themselves.

The person I'd like to see more dancing from would be more someone like Mandela, his tribal dances. There are some clips of him dancing, very gentle, very graceful, very living deep in his own body.

D. E.Rodriguez

I can only totally agree with you, dr.e Not because I dislike Mr. DeLay (which I do), but for all the "choreography" and cultural reasons you have stated.

When I wrote my little satire about his dancing, one of the things I was quite serious about was my hope that he would not dance that almost sacred Latin dance, the Tango.

Well he did, and he defiled it.

I think it's best for everyone that Mr. DeLay was finally voted out. It's good for those who love dancing and especially good for Mr. DeLay himself: for his own health and for his own reputation

Dorian

PWT

To be honest though, he was not a good dancer and would have been voted off in a couple of weeks anyway.

daveinboca

For a guy his age, he was just fine and the GOP on the back of his shirt showed a sense of humor, something lacking in the self-anointed elites [and out-and-out crooks like Rangel and Murtha] on the other side.

tidbits

Too personal...can't dance...no emanating soul...couldn't defile the Tango on a bet...no graceful male sexuality...tears forming...ego crushed.

Thanks alot. lol

Jim_Satterfield

Pretty much the only reaction I had to hearing about his exit and the reason was "Ouch, ouch, ouch. That sounds so painful. He needs to stay off those feet for a while.

kritt11

What was his last score? 15 out of 30? Not a great dancer by any objective standards.

I just look at it like he's a has-been who is desperate to stay in the limelight. His career is over,his reputation tainted, legal bills have eaten up his savings and his book didn't sell that well. So what's left? A game show or DWTS! :-)

Polimom

Hunh. I guess I'll have to disagree with everybody here (seems like I do that a lot lately...). I only watched the first episode, and although I dislike Tom DeLay fairly intensely, I enjoyed his appearance on DWTS enormously. Although I don't follow the show, I'm sorry (but unsurprised) that he's leaving due to injury.

It was evident immediately that he's terribly inhibited, and I was absolutely horrified watching his first rehearsals. However, when he performed "Wild Thing", he clearly went all in -- an accomplishment I respected him for. Plus, I laughed until I cried.... and as they say, some things you just can't put a price on.

archangel

tidbits, not true. a lot of men have such grace in speech and mind... and heart... that is their dance.

remember Z of C and do not defile his magesty

dr.e

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