Blog from 'Hammer' nails hits from left and right

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Meet Tom DeLay, the blogger.

The former House majority leader -- long known as "the Hammer" for his forceful wielding of power at the highest levels of government -- has launched his own Web log to cast his conservative word and brandish his acerbic criticisms of Democrats and even some fellow Republicans.

"It is a regrettable fact of the current American political age that too many Republicans have failed to continue an aggressive fight for the principles which bring us together as Republicans and conservatives," Mr. DeLay wrote in one of his first postings yesterday at the site, www.tomdelay.com.

"The election of 2006 was an example of what happens to a party and a movement when we fail to fight for the principles that brought us together in the first place," he wrote. "In short, it is time for true conservatives and Republicans to go back on offense."

By evening, Mr. DeLay had unloaded on one of the most popular Democrats to target.

"Not satisfied with being perhaps our nation's worst President, Jimmy Carter has decided to 'write' a book on the Middle East that has further solidified his position as a failure as a foreign policy practitioner, activist and pundit," he wrote of Mr. Carter's book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid."

Mr. DeLay's Internet debut was received much like his political career, which ended earlier this year after he was indicted on charges involving suspected campaign finance irregularities. Half loved him and half hated him.

"Dear Tom DeLay, may I say, we have missed you," Dani Triplett responded to Mr. DeLay's first posting. "Just your presence on the Web has given me a sense of security. There are many of us that know the Democrats lied and forced you out but, you will have your day!"

Added a blogger with the handle "fabiansmith": "Tom Delay is my superhero of politics. We need you to run in '08."

The site has comment moderation and member registration, which is unsurprising given the vitriol and hate the site immediately sparked on the left. The blog went live Sunday night, a day earlier than expected, but the news spread like wildfire through the liberal blogosphere before the comments could be edited. A liberal anti-DeLay site, www.tomdelaydotcom. blogspot.com, did a screen capture of a sample of the comments liberals left behind there.

"What a magnificently, terrifically boring and irrelevant blog," wrote "Miles Coverdale." "Honestly, who on Earth cares what you have to say?"

And that was the relatively polite stuff.

"You left Congress disgracefully and you want people to take you seriously?" asked another blogger whose Internet handle was a vulgarized version of Mr. DeLay's name. "You should be in prison you."

Of the 111 comments saved at the parody site -- and later removed from tomdelay.com -- dozens used obscenities and many wished imprisonment and rape on Mr. DeLay.

"He just infuriates the left," said David All, spokesman for Rep. Jack Kingston, Georgia Republican and one of the more tech-savvy staffers on Capitol Hill. That rage will help make Mr. DeLay's political blog an instant sensation, he said.

"On the right, no one questions his agenda. He is conservative, he believes in our party," he said.

Oddly, Mr. All said, being cast into the minority could open the blogosphere more to Republicans as they grope for any sort of political power.

"You really need to be in the minority to get the Internet," he said. "Democrats had it four years ago with Howard Dean. Republicans now have a great opportunity, and that's what Tom DeLay can play into."