As I was reading this article, I got stuck on one fact and ,like I said, I'm afraid I still don't get it.

You write that after the travails of the past 3 years, Bush's approval ratings have fallen to the levels of 1994.

1994? What in the heck did the Democrats or Bill Clinton do in 1992-1994 to deserve that kind of rap?

I mean, I was alive then, but I guess I still can't comprehend how the country could have judged universal healthcare, gays in the military--or whatever the hell the issue was--so harshly, that only now Bush is 'catching up'? I'm afraid the degree to which symbolic issues seem to drive our electorate is truly depressing.

They aren't referencing Bush's approval rating, they're talking about people satisfied with the direction of the country. Clinton's popularity was higher. It was that low in 94 because Republicans had finally gotten a large enough audience for their lie machine in the media and had been hammering on how horrible healthcare for all would be. That and letting gay people defend the nation.

Let's predict Tom Delay's future! Yes, the inevitable court appearances and lots of lawyer-statements as he fights off the corruption charges... nothing new there.

But Delay has said he wants to continue working for his causes from the outside. What does that mean? Here's what I predict - the same Delay money-raising and money-distribution schemes, carried out from the outside. Delay will speak to conservative and Christian groups, raise money, and funnel it to favored Republican conservative congressional races. He will then expect the favors returned in the form of legislation he dictates.

Look at what he has done over the past 10 years - a web of money ties from conservative groups to his pacs, which dole out the money to favored congressmen, who vote in a block of support at his command. Expect that to continue, with few bumps in the road, on into the future. No changes, except Congressman Delay becomes Mr. Delay, and takes on the lobbyist mantle he helped create. I expect him to become Top-Dog Lobbyist, the King of Lobbyists, the biggest political money machine ever seen. It's not over by any means (at least for a few years.) Being under legal pressure will just make him "embattled Tom Delay."

I hate all this, of course. But I see no restraints, legal or moral, that he couldn't smash his way through, just as he has before. He's got a head start.

This is my biggest issue with politicians -- they don't take responsibility for their actions. If DeLay, Bush or any of the rest would stand up and say, "I did it." I'd have a lot more respect for them. They still wouldn't get my vote however.

I hope that the media will continue to push and ask the hard questions. I think we should talk about DeLay until November as his influence has tainted the entire Congress. This is not some guy getting a BJ from an intern, this is a serious problem.

Scherer's description of the GOP's "last respects" to Tom Delay could be the script for the final episode of the "Sopranos." That's how we expect Tony to go: in front of a shoving mass of journalists and TV cameramen, no questions taken. A fitting end for a mob boss of the criminal enterprise Congress has become.

It's axiomatic that Tom the professional sociopath lands a fat gig with Pat Robertson and they clasp hands and squint like they're shitting bricks of money, together. Just bring a snorkel for that much snake oil.

Isn't it neat how Republicans tend to self-destruct even when they don't have an effective opposition to contend with?

Who's next? It seems that if you just leave them alone, they will go home, wagging their tails behind them.

Bad polling in his district didn't force DeLay's resignation. After all, wherever there is electronic voting, Republicans can be expected to win despite dismal public-opinion and and voter-exit polling.

No, DeLay had more pressing matters at hand, i.e., converting his campaign cash to his legal-defense fund (perfectly legal under current House rules). Winning another two-year term is much less important than avoiding a multi-year term in prison.

Alan Alda, in response to a question by John Stewart about his depiction of a Republican Senator on "The West Wing", said in jest "Republicans are as capable of great ideas and moving the country forward as anybody else; they just don't do it".

On 12/24/98 the Washington Post reported: "During last week's House debate on impeachment, DeLay, one of Clinton's fiercest critics, opposed allowing members to vote on censure as an alternative ...". In response to a relatively reasonable alternative bipartisan agreement in which then President Clinton would accept censure, Delay was reported to have personally killed the deal with the intention of not just destroying President Clinton but Clinton's agenda supported by a majority of the American people. The result was, as we all know, that Clinton's approval rating skyrocketed to 60%.

As for Mr. DeLay, we are not talking about a real smart guy here. His whole shtick was to funnel Republican donations to those whom he could control, and destroy those that he could not. This is not the novel strategy of a brilliant political scientist, it is a minor extension of his training as a Texas insect exterminator. I can only imagine that in his twisted mind he associates Terrorists, Democrats, and free-thinking Republicans in his "axis of weevils".

The bitter irony for Tom Delay is that President Clinton's legacy will be "Peace and Prosperity" while Tom DeLay's will be as a minor footnote in the history books confirming the opposition charge of a Republican "Culture of Corruption". No cushy job on the "Fox Propaganda Channel" (Fox News) will change that.