DeLay done
Former House Minority Leader Tom DeLay announced late today that he's quitting Congress. According to DeLay, cold, political calculations were the reason for the move.
In an interview Monday with Time magazine, DeLay -- facing both criminal charges and the political fallout from his close association with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff -- said that even though he still believed he could win re-election, he is a "realist" and did not want to risk losing the seat to a Democratic challenger.
"This had become a referendum on me," DeLay told Time. "So it's better for me to step aside and let it be a referendum on ideas, Republican values and what's important for the district."
Maybe. However, it's probably a little more likely that DeLay saw the Abramoff scandal heading his way after last week's plea deal for former DeLay deputy chief of staff Tony Rudy.
Absent any Washington, D.C.-related indictment (the Ronnie Earle money laundering charges are laughable) DeLay probably could've won his seat in a solid GOP district. However, the specter of a last-minute indictment is now coalescing above DeLay's head which could have disastrous effects come November.
DeLay likely sees the end is near, and he made this move for the good of the GOP.
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Eventually you will agree with me that the whole system is corrupt. The ins are always more corrupt since they have the power. Why bribe the outs? Unfortunately, I have no good, or at least workable solution. Maybe some of your readers could offer some ideas on how we can get this country back on the right track since the current group of leaders are certainly more politicians than they are statesman.
Wonderful has a great point. The men who set up this country are long gone, and besides, if they lived today, they would be unelectable. Accountability really doesn't work well with a huge populations. There are either way too many people in Washington, or way too few. If there was a representative for every 100 people it would be much easier to motivate those 100 poeple about keeping their representative accountable. If there were only a few people in Washington there would be much more scrutiny on each of their actions.
There is also a huge interest problem. Life in the USA is great. No seriously, no matter how you feel about Iraq, life here is grand. And the economy is doing pretty great as well. (If you don't believe me, travel.) People are way more concerned about the weather Saturday for the tailgate than they are about anything in Washington (I know there are exceptions).
Doom and gloom I suppose for the politcal process, but at least we'll be eating some grilled delights and watching baseball.
Besides, I've read the end of the book and I already know who wins.