Savor this WP headline, folks: INDICTMENT ENDS DeLay ERA ON CAPITOL HILL

[DeepModem Mom]

This is a political obituary:


WP: Indictment Ends the DeLay Era on Capitol Hill
Texan Who Stabilized GOP Power After '94 Takeover Is Seen as Strongest Majority Leader in Years

By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, September 29, 2005; Page A07

The indictment yesterday of Tom DeLay ended -- at least for now -- the reign of the most powerful leader the House of Representatives has seen in decades.

Love him or hate him -- and pretty much everybody did one or the other -- DeLay was the man who, more than Newt Gingrich, Dick Armey or Denny Hastert, consolidated the gains of the Republican Revolution of 1994 and institutionalized an enduring Republican majority in the Congress.

DeLay never became speaker himself -- and his indictment yesterday in Texas makes it increasingly unlikely that he will reach his goal of succeeding Hastert -- but in practice he ran the legislative agenda on Capitol Hill for the better part of a decade....

***

DeLay has often been accused of running close to the edge of legality and ethical behavior. He has three times been admonished by the House ethics committee and has asked the panel to look into his much-written-about travels with lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Abramoff, whose more than $80 million in fees from American Indian tribes is under investigation by the Justice Department, worked closely with DeLay and his staff. Ethics lawyers say DeLay may well have been in technical violation of ethics rules, because Abramoff paid for some travel expenses for DeLay during trips to Britain and elsewhere.

Publicly, Republicans stood by their embattled colleague Wednesday. Privately, some began to talk of a post-DeLay era. Either way, they were hopeful that, whatever happened with the legal troubles, DeLay had institutionalized his fundraising and vote-whipping prowess so much that it would outlive him. "He is a conviction politician like Ronald Reagan; he's also been a party builder," said Grover Norquist, an anti-tax activist and DeLay ally. "DeLay always kept his eye on building party and the movement, and that's rare."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/28/AR2005092802286.html

[buff2]

1. Hahahahahahaha......

It couldn't have happened to a "nicer" guy...:rofl: RIP you rotten SOB!!!!

[lovuian]

2. Its a story about Power and how it corrupted him totally!!!

and eventually destroyed him!!!

[OldLeftieLawyer]

5. It's also a morality tale

Stealing, lying, and being an all-around thug are not the kinds of things good people do.

DeLay is thinking, "Where is Terri Schiavo now that I really need her?"

Politically, he's deader than she is.

[KingFlorez]

3. The bigger they are, the harder they fall

He's pretty big, so he should have known the ride wouldn't last that long.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

4. I heard this on "Countdown," I think,

or maybe it was Lou Dobbs - that DeLay won his last election with only 55% of the vote, running against a not-really-a-candidate candidate.

At the time of his indictment (I love typing that), his favorable rating back in his home district was 27%.

Twenty-seven percent???

That headline is so right ...................

[buff2]

6. His political career is over.

He doesn't have a snow balls chance in hell of getting elected again. Unless Diebold comes to the rescue.:scared: