That's what I would do. I haven't weighed in on Tom's Troubles. Hardly a surprise that I find him repugnant, but I also think Nancy Pelosi is repulsively nagging and nasty. I know I wouldn't hesitate to tell her to shut up and sit step down if the ethic committee came down on her like they did on DeLay yesterday. If Congressmen were held to the same standard as lawyers, or judges, he would be fighting disbarrment proceedings for fostering the mere appearance of impropriety, a sanctionable offense for the bar.

Not that DeLay received a real "behind the woodshed" spanking, nor do I have enough facts in hand (nor care to find out) if he deserved more or less of a punishment. But it was, in the words of Joe Gandelman, "a SIGNIFICANT series of rebukes." I do think his response was inappropriately smug and belligerant when a bi-partisan committee reaches a unanimous decision that he be reprimanded. Niether juries or voters forgive and forget arrogance. Maybe he is the perfect choice for majority leader when you think about it.

When you have to be reelected every two years, you would think you'd be more circumspect. He may be in a "safe" district this November (after all the gerrymandering he did it would be supreme irony if he weren't) but you'd think that a plausible/respectable republican could make a decent challenge against him next go-round in the primaries if he wins this time.

I was disgusted with Mary Rose Oakar's scandalous behavior in the early '90's. I lived in Louis Stoke's district in the Cleveland area at the time, now represented very well by one of the first Judges I ever appeared before, Stephanie Tubbs Jones. But across the river, Mary Rose was every bit the liberal democrat icon that is now embodied by the current rep of the district, Dennis Kucinich. Needless to say, that seat is "safe" for Democrats.

The district hats [sic] a strong Democratic tilt. However, in '92, Republican Martin Hoke defeated incumbent Cong. Mary Rose Oakar (D) in a bloody battle. Oakar, an eight-termer, had been nailed with 213 over-drafts at the House hank and had been embroiled in a dispute arising out of the post office scandal. Her brash and aggressive personality was wearing thin on her constituency, which even showed in the Democratic primary that year when she won renomination by a slim 39-30 percent margin. Relying too heavily on labor in the general election, Oakar went down in flames when voters put Hoke in office with 57 percent of the vote. The same year, Bill Clinton defeated George Bush in the district by five points. Ohio's Comeback Kid

If history is any indicator, DeLay's days are numbered. The ultimate jury is the electorate. Like any jury, they determine facts despite spin and mete out punishment.