An article on why, precisely, a character like DeLay can prosper within a certain political scene, can appeal to voters, and, perhaps most importantly, can exist at all within a supposedly healthy culture would be much more revealing, much more interesting, and much more courageous on Salon's part. The last sane remnants of the American political consciousness will go down drowning in the rancid milk of this numbed-cow, profoundly self-indulgent and decadent fascism that we're so privileged to enjoy, whining and crying at what potential America has lost, at the tragic fate that has befallen such an essentially good-natured country, etc. Salon is swimming just like most every other thinking American with a soul, but it would do much better to lose the waterwings and question the state, or dare I say nature, to wax metaphysical, of a nation in which these things are possible.

I don't deny that certain segments of the American population, even certain geographical areas more generally, don't deserve the fire and brimstone of whatever just and new god might disclose himself into being during our lifetimes, but American decency, American sanity, is a mere plurality within the larger national milieu. The time for being nice is over. Armed revolt, certainly, is fundamentally hopeless in our age of high and expertly devised technology and control. But a little venom mixed in with the ink would be a nice change. An article on how the Northeast might one day reclaim its original claim to being a nation with potential, depending on your faith in transplanted Enlightenment values (but we really must do something about these Puritans), and secede from the Union in order to become a less laughable, somewhat renewed America, for example, would be a nice start.

Don't get so caught up in calling attention to obvious villainy when you're preaching to the choir, and when the magnitude of this kind of disgrace raises nary a protest from vast swaths of the American public, either because of ignorance or obstinence. Neither deserves any pity, and if that makes me a disdainful liberal, so be it. The situation demands the profoundest disdain.

DeLay knew what he was doing when he resigned. If he'd run for re-election, his seat would almost certainly go to a Democrat (probably Nick Lampson). But this way, he makes way for a fresh Republican face.

DeLay's sledge-hammer tactic of forcing the lobbyists to line the pockets of exclusively Republican politicians is apalling in its brazen simplicity, but it is also self-defeating. Lobbyists are getting a long-deserved bad reputation these days, and some of them are going to jail outright. Proudly declaring, therefore, that the GOP is the prime recipient of special interest money (some or much of it illegal) and that the Democrats are simply jealous, is stupid at best. Then again, that's been DeLay's tactic all the while: insolently crossing over all kinds of lines (moral or legal, it appears), bragging about it and getting away with it.

It is refreshing to see that at least he can't get away with all of it. You see, Americans are not special or different: at the core of our supposedly superior society lie the simple basic values of any human society. This inherent desire for stability, and therefore decency and the rule of law, works regardless of ideology or political system. The rule is simple: you cross that line, and you're out. Not because Ronnie Earle is a hero (that's irrelevant), but because society casts out those who destabilize it, corrupt politicians destabilize society and DeLay is a corrupt politician.

DeLay's problem was hubris; he ran against a force that is greater than any human being or human construct: the force of human nature itself. Maybe I'm waxing poetic a bit too much, but when you live in a nation unable to come up with any strong, competent and decent leadership, you end up relying on the fundamental forces of nature for making things turn out okay in the end. I'm just glad it worked this time around, and we're not out of the woods yet. Still, every little bit helps.

"My guess is that, after a discreet interval, DeLay himself will become the ultimate beneficiary of the K Street Project."

Not that anything about DeLay has been discreet in a long time. His K Street perch will not quite be the "darkness and disgrace" suggested by the subhead.

I hate these grand epigrams. There is no deeper story here. Tom Delay is the drug lord of Congress and he lied, cheated, stole and killed until someone stopped him. Period. He is not some Shakespearean failure. Screw him, may he choke on flames in hell.

These stories of the ruthless power and money grabber's ascent and fall are nothing new to Congress or in a larger sense any of society's institutions throughout history. The Teapot Dome scandal, Watergate, Abscam, Iran contra, etc., etc. Neither Republicans nor Democrats are immune. As liberals, lets not get too smug about "Duke" Cunningham and DeLay, while forgetting about James Traficant(D-Ohio) being sentenced to 8 years for similar offenses not too long ago.

I think the true happiness that should come from this for anyone on either side of the aisle, is that most of the time, the system does work. The laws and codes of ethics are there, the enforcement is there and eventually the corrupt are exposed. These "Doom and Gloom" tomes about the state of American politics only serve to fuel everyone's cynicism. This only leads to more low voter turnout.

As surely as the sun rises in the east, along with the vast majority of people who go into public service to serve the people, some will serve only to serve themselves. Wake me up when it's been 10 years without a single Congressperson or Cabinet member being convicted, indicted or at the very least being forced to resign. Then I'll start to worry.

And yet, he gets to keep the millions in his campaign fund. Not too punitive, is it?

Remember Newt Gingrich, Trent Lott and other things that scamper away when you turn on the lights, all got a second wind. You can spray a cockroach with DDT and make him sick, but he'll be back.