The South Texas Minarets

Houston's new Director of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism, Tom DeLay, wants to ensure you that, indeed, it really IS just like Iraq:

When House Majority Leader Tom DeLay sat down with reporters on Tuesday on Capitol Hill, he was asked to assess President Bush's campaign in Iraq and to respond to criticism that the military mission is not going well and the White House needs to develop an exit strategy.

DeLay offered this response: "These things take time and they take a long time, and some people get weary of the constant barrage that we see in the media.

"You know, if Houston, Texas, was held to the same standard as Iraq is held to, nobody'd go to Houston, because all this reporting coming out of the local press in Houston is violence, murders, robberies, deaths on the highways," DeLay said.

"And if you took that as the image of what is a great city that has an incredible quality of life and an incredible economy, it's amazing to me. Go to Iraq. And see what's actually happening there.

"Everybody that comes from Iraq is amazed at the difference of what they see on the ground and what they see on the television set."

DeLay was silent when asked whether Al-Kyle (duh) was active in the region; however, reports of large pickup trucks and full size vans with airbrushed sides stuck in traffic on the loop continue to surface...

Seriously, though...it's not like I need an excuse to stay away from Houston, but DeLay certainly makes it a LOT easier to avoid. And I defy anyone to come up with a more depressing five hour ride than that between here and there (think Chemical Corridor, but stretched out quite a bit).

Oh, and one thing DeLay got wrong...unlike Iraq, Houston's chock full of Weapons of Mass Destruction.