Tuesday, April 04, 2006

More DeLay

Josh Marshall reminds us that DeLay owned the Republicans:

So DeLay is out. But it's DeLay's House. DeLay's Republican DC machine. They built and fortified it with the money he brought in. The great majority of them voted for the "DeLay Rule" custom tailored for Majority Leader DeLay to avoid stepping down even after indictment. The current Republican membership of the House ethics committee was hand-picked to provide protection for DeLay and the old membership was purged. He's their guy. Their rule rests on his machine. They can run but they can't hide.
Atrios reminds us that a year ago, DeLay was indispensable to the GOP:
Sponsors of Thursday night's tribute say DeLay is the most effective GOP legislator in Congress, and they can't afford to lose him. "The reason why conservatives are sticking with DeLay is that he has always been for them on issues," says Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, a sponsor.
We're going to see--in fact, we're already seeing--Republicans try to distance themselves from DeLay, as if he were a black sheep, an embarrassing aberration in the party. Don't let them.

[That's all, folks]