After Tom DeLay

[jbfam4]

After Tom DeLay

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/07/AR2006010700831.html
Sunday, January 8, 2006; Page B06



It's necessary because, notwithstanding his assertion yesterday that "I have always acted in an ethical manner," Mr. DeLay is an ethical recidivist unfit to lead. If the repeated admonishments of the House ethics committee weren't enough to convince his colleagues, consider some of the latest disclosures: The Post's R. Jeffrey Smith reported on a DeLay-linked group, the U.S. Family Network, that appears to have secretly received $1 million from Russian oil and gas executives seeking to induce Mr. DeLay to support a loan bailout for Russia. Foreign companies and individuals aren't permitted to make campaign contributions; such back-door influence buying is especially pernicious.

In addition, according to the guilty plea entered by Jack Abramoff, the former lobbyist arranged for payments totaling $50,000 to the wife of "Staffer A" -- identified as Tony C. Rudy, Mr. DeLay's former deputy chief of staff -- in exchange for Mr. Rudy's help in defeating an Internet gambling bill. The stench surrounding Mr. DeLay had been growing more pungent daily; his decision had the air of inevitability.

But House Republicans need not only to shed Mr. DeLay; they also need to change the way their party has operated under his leadership and that of House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert

[shraby]

1. I see this article has been relegated to

section B, page 6. Way to go Wapo.