DeLay Still Causing Trouble

Ousted Majority Leader Tom DeLay seems to have a problem letting go. Yesterday on "Fox News Sunday," not only the DeLay predict his quick return to the House leadership, he also uttered the obnoxiously arrogant line "I can still do my job without the title."

No, Tom. You're out. You're not majority leader. Maybe someday you will be again (although I hope that's not the case), but you'd better not be anywhere near the decisions of the House for the forseeable future. Of course DeLay seems to think he will be, telling Fox's Chris Wallace "I get to continue my partnership with the speaker."

Asked about DeLay's comments later on "Face the Nation," Rep. David Dreier, who has taken on some of DeLay's duties, said "He's not going to still run things. He knows he's not going to run things. But he's clearly a member of Congress, and he's a very important part of the team." Good for Dreier, but if I were him I'd be making darn sure those meeting rooms are Hammer-proof.

Chris Shays, went much farther yesterday in his criticisms of DeLay (you'll remember he's been calling for months, as I have, for DeLay to resign). On "Late Edition," he told Wolf Blitzer "We got elected basically by saying we would live by a higher moral standard, and I don't think recently we have." DeLay, he said, has disqualified himself from party leadership through "continual acts that border and go sometimes beyond the ethical edge. They may not be illegal, but he's always pushing that ethical edge to the limit."

Shays is right, of course. Tom DeLay cannot be the face of the Republican Party. We deserve better, and the country deserves better.