The Hammer Gets Whacked

Tom "The Hammer'' DeLay has become the first political victim of the Jack Abramoff Scandal.

DeLay, the once powerful House majority leader, yesterday bowed to pressure from the White House and fellow Republicans concerned about the growing corruption and campaign finance scandals in which he is a central figure and announced that he will not try to regain his leadership post.

Trying to take back a position from which he dispensed buckets of money and influence, as well as pearls of conservative wisdom, for 10 years would seem to be the least of DeLay's problems. Any way you look at it, The Hammer is in deep doodoo, every bit of it of his own making and the result of his slimy embrace of and leadership role in pay-to-play politics.

DeLay has been unable to shake off Texas grand jury indictments on charges of money laundering and conspiracy. Despite his claim that the indictments are a politically motivated vendetta by a Democratic prosecutor, his Republican allies in Washington have been abandoning him in droves.

The White House publicly evinced support for DeLay until just days ago when the stink got so bad that it became necessary to sacrifice its one-time pal at the Altar of Political Expediency. That's the same place where FEMA director Michael "You're Doing a Great Job, Brownie" Brown was imolated following the Hurricane Katrina debacle, as well as other GOP lightweights and felons-in-waiting whose baggage became too heavy for even the ethically challenged Bush administration to carry.

DeLay's liability to the Republican Party -- and especially congressfolk seeking reelection in November -- deepened last week after Abramoff, friend and super lobbyist, cut a deal with federal prosecutors under which he will plead guilty to several felony counts in return for squealing on congressfolk, their wives and former associates in what has shaped up to be the biggest political corruption scandal in ages. DeLay is widely assumed to be in Abramoff's crosshairs.

Despite having his wings clipped by his own party, DeLay vowed to reclaim his seat on the House Appropriations Committee and to run for reelection. But his stock has fallen precipitously in his Sugarland, Texas, home district and he may face a Republican primary challenge, let alone a formidable Democratic challenger if he survives to run in November.

Bottom line: The Republican Party money machine's Tony Soprano and advocate for Terri Shiavo and other brain-dead manipulations has become toxic.

The only good news for DeLay and the Big Tent folk would appear to be that his capitulation announcement will deprive Democrats of one of their favorite political punching bags.

This did not stop House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California from noting that:

For years, at the expense of the American people, the House Republicans have enabled and benefited from the Republican culture of corruption engineered by Tom DeLay. The culture of corruption is so pervasive in the Republican conference that a single person stepping down is not nearly enough to clean up the Republican Congress.

We shall see.