The pity is that Republicans who care more about their party than about the cult of personality attendant to its key figures have long warned of this day. We knew all along that Tom DeLay was a bully — ask the Heritage Foundation about his penchant for petty grudges. We knew all along that he was, on a fundamental level, unprincipled — ask him about the fat in the Federal budget. We knew all along that he was mostly interested in power for its own sake — recall, please, that he sought a House rules change to protect his leadership position in this very circumstance. And we knew that if it came to an indictment, it would be the end.
As much as I would love for Tom DeLay to quietly fade away from the national spotlight, having him resign over trumped-up and quite possibly fraudulent charges would be a mistake of the highest order.
Trevino is right, he is a liability. However, if he were to step down on these charges he'd be creating an even bigger one.
Given the adage that politics is a slightly more polite version of warfare, what Trevino proposes is another Munich. Bowing to politically-oriented prosecutions like that is only going to emboldened more shamelessly partisan hacks like Earle to go after other Republican leaders with trumped-up charges.
Supporting DeLay may make many of us want to take a shower afterwards, but it's ultimately necessary to prevent others more noble from suffering the same fate.
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