The Hammer

This is a story I haven't spent a lot of time on, but it's worth being aware of. Tom Delay, the House majority leader, is being investigated for campaign finance violations in the 2002 election (the election which, if you will recall, gave him the power to redistrict the state to ensure a conservative majority). House rules require him to set aside his leadership status for the duration of the investigation. So naturally Senate Republicans are rewriting the rules to allow Delay to stay in power.

My favorite quote by Tom Delay was when he said, "Emotional appeals about working families trying to get by on $4.25 an hour are hard to resist. Fortunately, such families do not exist."

For the record, they do exist.

Anyway E. J. Dionne, Jr. writes on this issue today, and makes a telling comment.

Recall how Republicans dismissed any and all who charged that the investigations of President Bill Clinton by special prosecutor Ken Starr were politically motivated. Ah, but those were investigations of a shady Democrat by a distinguished Republican. When a Democrat is investigating a Republican, it can only be about politics. Is that clear?

We'll have to see how far this goes. I'm a little surprised that some other ambitious republican isn't suggesting they keep to the rules. I mean if Delay has to step down there's going to be an opening, isn't there? I guess it's a tribute to the Republican spirit of unity.