Justice DeLayed

Poor Tom is daid, poor Tom D. is daid...politically anyway. Remember that grinning, arrogant mug shot of former Republican majority leader Tom DeLay, and his stalwart vow to be back to work in no time? DeLay left Congress a few months ago, supposedly on a temporary absence, after an indictment in Texas for illegal campaign finance practices that he claimed was false. Then Jack Abramoff, the Boris Badanov look-alike who has most of Capitol Hill scrambling to find alibis, went down faster than Courtney love at a heroin club, and suddenly our over confident hero isn't so sure. The Republicans announced today that DeLay will be leaving his post this Spring, and settling down in Virginia.

"He has served our nation with integrity and honor." Thus spake current Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. Hmm, an interesting epitaph to a career that ends suddenly with litigation and scandal. Where is that grinning, cocksure boy we all loved oh so long ago?

Democrats, for once, were quick to act on this.
"DeLay's decision to leave Congress is just the latest piece of evidence that the Republican Party is a party in disarray, a party out of ideas and out of energy," said Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Bill Burton.

While I am loving every moment of watching the Republicans feed scapegoat after scapegoat into the wood-chipper of history, I fear that the Democrats lack the strong leadership and vision to take advantage of the missteps of the blue-bloods in charge of D.C. For once I cannot tell what direction this will all go. The Bush administration is coming apart at the seams, but the Republican party, in the only truly definitive action being taken, is very quickly distancing themselves from Dubya and his elitist, government bloating, caged bird shooting cronies. Democrats, on the other hand, just seem to be pointing their fingers and, Nelson like, going "Ha,ha!" If ever there was a time for a strong third party candidate it is now. The elephant is exhausted, and the donkey is leaderless. We have now been through 3 1/2 presidential terms where all that really happened was constant, escalating partisan slap fighting. Congress has become more and more about stopping 'them', and less and less about leading the country. This must stop now!! We are supposed to be a country of the people, by the people, and for the people, not of the Party, by the Party, and for the Party. I am sure that most of you who read this don't miss a chance to vote, but we must encourage all people to give voice to their dissatisfaction. Republican, Democrat, Green, Independent, or whatever party affiliation you have, or don't have, get out there to the polls and vote in anger. Complacency is killing this country. The extremists on both sides are yelling so loud that the vast majority of people who are in the middle are being drowned out in the cacophony. It's time we took our country back from the CEO's and career politicians. Government should be about us, not about itself, and it's high time we took the government back. So the next time you hear someone complain that their one vote doesn't matter, don't quote some trite 'people died for your right to vote' claptrap. That doesn't work any more than 'there are people starving in India' will get your kid to eat her spinach. Point out that all that tax money they give up every month is going to feed these bloated ticks in Washington, and if they want to keep shoveling their hard earned shekels into the maw of political ambition, then just go ahead and stay home on election day.

And if that doesn't work, kick 'em in the groin.

Marius