DeLay DeParts

Tom DeLay, without question the meanest man in the House of Representatives - and the most corrupt - has announced he will not seek a twelfth term and resign his seat later this spring. Good riddance to bad rubbish. A former exterminator who got eleceted to the House to protest environmental regulations and likened the EPA to the Gestapo, DeLay became something of a tyrant himself. He excluded Democrats from bill drafts and markups, played havoc with House rules to get enough votes to pass Bush's most controversial bills (like the Medicare "reform" bill), forced Republicans to fall in line, and bullied lobbyists into dealing with Republican lobbyists only. Such was the man who, when caught smoking a cigar on Capitol grounds in violation of the law, told the page who informed him so, "I am the law!"

Actually, he broke the law. Constantly, thanks to his illegal fundraising and his cavorting with Jack Abramoff. And although he's gone, his deeds have cast a pall on the rest of the Guardians Of Privilege (GOP) as they struggle to retain control of both houses of Congress. Ironically, DeLay's dubious use of federal power in redistricting Texas to add more House Republicans may be the only thing that keeps the House under GOP control. :-O