Tom DeLay, Part II

Tom DeLay, whom I have taken to calling "that petulant worm," sent an email to his constituents (read: the people who asked to receive email from him) that basically denied doing anything wrong. However, he didn't deny doing what has been alleged, just that it was wrong.

In recent weeks, The Post and other news organizations have reported new details about DeLay's foreign travel and the involvement of lobbyist Jack Abramoff and other groups in arranging it.

Most of the disclosed cost of a trip to England and Scotland in 2000 was indirectly financed by an Indian tribe and a gambling services company, said people who helped organize it. A Moscow trip in 1997 was indirectly underwritten by Russian business interests, said people with firsthand knowledge of the arrangements. A trip to South Korea on 2001 was paid for by a tax-exempt group created by a lobbyist on behalf of a Korean businessman.

DeLay has said he did not know about the indirect funding. He said in the e-mail that trips to Russia and Britain "were proper" and that "if the sponsor of a trip ultimately obtains funding for a trip, a Member is not and should not be responsible for that information."

Oh, really... I might be inclined to let him slide and then throw those words back in face when he makes the same charge against a Democrat- except that tactic never works. The unmitigated gall this man displays is the stuff of Shakespearean tragedy. Well, it would be if he were the Prince of Denmark, but he is little more than Guildenstern (or Rosencrantz), running around Elsinore wondering why he (or the other one) is there.

He also saw fit to point out that he has never been "found" to be in violation of law. That's a classically legalistic word, suggesting that people should not question his methods until he has been convicted. I should remind you that DeLay was one of the leading figures pushing for the impeachment of Bill Clinton, and he was never "found" to have done anything when DeLay was calling for his head.

It's about time that the Democrats fought back. What's more, we need to use DeLay to our advantage next year, running attack ads depicting Republicans as little more than DeLay hatchet men- much like they did when Newt Gingrich was speaker. To the extent that people know about Tom DeLay, they generally loathe him.

With good reason, I'd say.