E Pluribus Unum

Concerning Tom DeLay's indictment today on criminal conspiracy charges, I know I'm late to the party (I'm working the graveyard shift), but here are some of my immediate impressions:

1. DeLay isn't the Republican Majority Leader anymore -- but he is symbolic of the Republican Majority. He has handed out so much money, twisted so many arms, and has so many Congressman beholden to him and if the Democrats can't run on that, then they don't deserve to win. Anything. Ever. Again.

2. Calling someone a "Texas Conservative" should now be a convenient shorthand way of saying someone is a crony-rewarding, hammer-dropping, arm-twisting, bribe-taking, lobbyist-loving corrupt hack. I'm just saying.

3. Watch how fast Bush apologists leave skidmarks on the pavement getting away from this guy. In a couple of weeks, it'll be like they'd never heard his name.

4. Tom DeLay will someday leave Congress and return as the highest-paid lobbyist of his generation. And that's saying a lot.

5. Roy Blunt, DeLay's successor, is cut from the same cloth as his mentor.

6. If you think DeLay is the merely the second most powerful man in the House of Representatives, you are vastly underestimating him. There are probably only 3 people more powerful than him in this entire country -- Cheney, Rove and Bush. And would you lookee there -- they're all Texas conservatives!