DeLay's Last Day

I'm pretty sick of hearing about Tom DeLay, actually, so I'm going to keep this relatively short. Unlike most people of my political persuasion, I don't hate Tom DeLay (or George Bush, for that matter). I also don't think he did anything all that different from what a great many politicians do, or what many other people put in their position would do. It's another discussion entirely whether that kind of behavior (I'm talking here about excessively partisan actions in the redistricting fight in Texas, threatening fellow Congressmen during vote counting, excessive interconnectedness with lobbying) is OK for elected representatives, but in the current political culture it's not wildly outside the norm.

Instead, I pity Tom DeLay. He came to Congress as a reformer, and like so many before him, he was great at it while he was in the minority and didn't have to govern. When the rubber hit the road, however, he made no serious moves to reduce spending (one of his bug-a-boo's), and became a toady for President Bush once Bush took office in 2001. Maintaining party loyalty through brute force is not leadership, and Tom DeLay was not a good leader. He was an arm-twister. People stuck by him because he could make money, not because they liked him or respected him or wished to retain him as leader (all of these are blatant generalizations, but I think there's truth to the statements). Tom DeLay became what he despised, and in the end was bent on retaining power for himself and his party, until it became clear that he, at least, had no further visible part to play in the saga. The Republican Party will be better off without him when the November election roles ar0und. So long, citizen Tom.