Check The Fork For Blunt's Fingeprints

With the recent discussion in Washington about Roy Blunt's act of disloyalty to Tom DeLay and his total focus on his own personal ambition, I think it might be worth taking a walk down memory lane.

Check out my post from Fired Up! Missouri on March 30, 2005.  Here's the headline:

Stick a Fork in DeLay, He's Done and Check the Fork For Roy Blunt's Fingerprints

At the time, there were a number of bad stories coming out about DeLay.  For those who don't have the time to go read the entire post, I'll give you the summary paragraphs.

Here is the interesting Missouri twist on the whole thing.  Do you suppose that there is any truth to the rumor that Blunt and his staff are the ones behind the scenes actually fanning the flames on all the bad press DeLay has been getting over the last few days?  Word has it, Blunt has Cong. Sam Graves in on the intrigue as well. 

It makes a certain amount of sense, after all, Roy is the one who stands to gain the most if DeLay blows up.  Blunt would presumably make the play for the #2 post in the House. 

If so, that's a very dangerous game for him to be playing.  He'd better hope he doesn't get caught, and that DeLay doesn't survive.

Keep in mind, this was written on March 30, 2005.

The intrigue regarding Blunt's power play on DeLay is now getting some serious attention in Washington.  Today's WaPo story touches on this.

Blunt refers to the chaos of the past three days as "unfortunate events," made all the more trying because of conflicting reports and rumors about the events, some suggesting that he had sought to benefit from DeLay's problems.

More:

Descriptions vary on the nature of DeLay and Blunt's relationship, but many agree there has been a lot of tension between their two staffs. "There's some natural and appropriate tension between leadership staff," said Blunt.

And the right wing echo chamber over at Townhall.com spells it out even more:

Word on Capitol Hill is that in addition to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Tom DeLay also wanted David Dreier to replace him temporarily.

More:

According to Hill sources, DeLay wanted Dreier because he would be easy to depose when and if DeLay's legal woes cease. Blunt, who had the backing of the conservative Republican Study Committee and others, may be around for a while.