DeLay is finished as majority leader:
In letters sent Saturday to fellow House Republicans and Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, Mr. DeLay said he supported the call for an election of a new leader and was stepping aside to avoid becoming a political liability as Republicans face a determined Democratic challenge to their majority.
“The job of majority leader and the mandate of the Republican majority are too important to be hamstrung, even for a few months, by personal distractions,” Mr. DeLay said in the letter to Mr. Hastert, the man he personally picked to take the speaker’s job in a previous round of leadership turmoil in 1998. In his letter to the Republican conference, Mr. DeLay said he had “always acted in an ethical manner within the rules of our body and the laws of our land.”
Though his allies just hours earlier had suggested Mr. DeLay would resist moves to oust him, his aides said he came to a different conclusion on his own Saturday morning in Texas as he assessed his waning support and the potential damage to House Republicans. He then telephoned Mr. Hastert to deliver his decision, according to a House leadership aide who did not want to be identified discussing private conversations.
Good riddance.
Stormy70
Yup.
SmilingPolitely
Remember when Delay went on Pat Robertsons’s show, after being indicted, to drum of support from the devil and his flock?
yet another jeff
So, Lucifer can be in two different disguises on the same show?
The Other Steve
You missed the ridiculous part of Delay’s letter.
In other words, he wants his spot back so he can continue to fry up the pork.
The Disenfranchised Voter
Stormy70 Says:
“Yup”? I may be mistaken, but I’m fairly certain you vigorously defended Delay’s innocence even after he was indicted Stormy…
Barbar
This is like shooting a corpse in the heart.
Pb
The Disenfranchised Voter,
That was then, see, *before* he resigned. Keep up with the (GOP) conventional wisdom, man. Hopefully Stormy will be a rabid supporter of democrats by 2008. ;)
Pooh
Well, you got to say, the guy has balls for days
Bernard Yomtov
I feel about the ouster of DeLay as I do about the return of Abramoff contributions.
Who are these people trying to kid? They’ve known for a long time about DeLay, and were happy to go along with him as long as things were kept reasonably quiet and theygot a few goodies.
Now things aren’t quiet, so they are all being righteous. I’m very far from a fan of DeLay, but I would have some grudging respect for a Representative who stuck by him solely out of loyalty. The rest are a classic case of rats deserting the sinking ship.
S.W. Anderson
Yeah, right. Much the way Erwin Rommel suddenly decided the best way he could serve his fuehrer and Reich was to blow his own brains out. Much the way Gens. Douglas MacArthur and Eric Shinseki suddenly decided retirement sure looked good.
And as for worrying about doing damage to House Republicans, the time to think about that was . . . how long ago was DeLay elected to the leadership?
The Disenfranchised Voter
I would have less respect for a Rep who stood by him. I admire a person who is loyal to principals, not friends.
Skip
“Stormy70 Says: Yup.”
It makes sense to be aware of one’s rhetorical limitations.