The King Is Dead - Long Live The King

Tom DeLay is gone. To the irritation of my wife and my own disappointment, I'm not as happy about DeLay's departure as I should be. With DeLay running for re-election, Democrats had an opportunity not just to win a heavily Republican seat, but to hang DeLay's corruption around the necks of every Republican in the country. Now the chances of stealing a seat are probably gone, and the Republicans will distance themselves from their fallen leader.

I am also not as happy as I might be because the problem is much bigger than DeLay. DeLay will become another Gingrich - a sacrificial lamb meant to protect the corrupt Republican majority. Boehner is just as bad, but it will take the Democrats (and the media) a couple of years to discover this. Then we'll repeat the whole kabuki performance over again, as we target and finally destroy another Republican leader - leaving the party as a whole free to continue as before. Until we challenge the infrastructure of the Republican party - until we attack the machine itself, it will continue to roll these guys off the assembly line, one after another.

But I will admit that it sure is nice to see this particular exterminator on his way to the roach motel.