Conservatives come to Washington denouncing it as a cesspool, Stan Evans famously quipped. Soon they find Washington more like a hot tub. Evans's witticism precisely describes Tom DeLay.

DeLay deserved to be driven from his House leadership post by fellow Republicans for claiming victory over big government and holding that all the fat had been trimmed from the federal budget. Instead, a Democratic prosecutor in Texas has effectively deposed DeLay by indicting him.

Conservatives should applaud the ends of derailing the biggest congressional obstacle to limited government. Conservatives should not applaud the means. Even if DeLay is convicted of what he is accused of, it won't be clear that he's guilty of anything. Raising money for Republicans from corporations seems politics as usual, not a criminal offense. Might the problem be the law and not the lawbreaker? Alas, a law is a law and a lawmaker should know better. Perhaps more details will emerge placing DeLay's alleged misdeeds on a Dan Rostenkowski, or even a Ted Kennedy, level.

Though the accusations aren't big, the accused is. The indicted Texas congressman stands poised to undermine his party's slated candidates just as he undermined his party's stated principles. The loyalists who stood by DeLay as he made government bigger will not stand by him as he makes the Republican caucus smaller.

I think this is going to make people stand by him, and rightly so, if what I hear about the bogus grounds for the indictment holds up. We know how little the truth matters to our enemies. Frist will be savaged by the press the way they savaged Bush on Katrina: with complete contempt for the actual story. Until Frist is indicted by the truth, he is my new hero.

Whoops, I meant DeLay. (And yes, you do have a point. I'd be even MORE behind Frist.)

Ah yes, Alec. The ol' "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" canard. Despite the fact that, far from being a hero to the conservative cause, Delay has been one of its chief Benedict Arnolds.

I agree wih Dan: let's loathe the low-life's who seek to bring down Delay through (what may be ) fabricated, unimportant charges. But don't crown Delay with praise just because the same people who hate America's first principles, and those of us who stand by them, also hate Delay. If liberals hate conservatives, and liberals hate Delay, it does not necessarily follow that Delay is a conservative. In fact, the record strongly suggests otherwise.

I guess ya have to know something about Ronnie Earle before passing judgement on DeLay. Earle has had a great track record of shaking down corporations like Cracker Barrel and Sears. Both companies ( and many, many others) have given 5 and 6 figure donations to his favorite charities to have him drop charges against them. He's been after DeLay for almost 20 years and is finally managing to pin him down on a questionable charge. This Ronnie Earle has brought suit against hundreds of people that he specifically targeted. That said, I think DeLay will start dropping the bomb on the democrats who are doing the same bait and switch. They pulled the same thing as Delay in the same state.
Oooopps. The MSM will give the democrats a pass.

Although DeLay is not linked directly to Bush and there is only a party affiliation, this is just another advertisement by the scum $ucking dems on how bad those old Republicans are.

Dean even mentioned DeLay as part of Bush's administration.

It's just the smear du jour. Karl Rove, Cindy Sheehan, Katrina, Delay....take your pick. Trying to create scandals where none exist and/or obfuscate the truth.

WHEN ARE THE REPUBLICANS GOING TO GROW SOME STONES
AND FIGHT BACK? I HAVE NEVER HEARD A PROMINENT
REPUBLICAN MENTION CHAPAQUIDIC, ROSE LAW FIRM,
SANDY BURGLAR ETC.WHEN THERE'S A MICROPHONE AROUND.WHY ARE WE CONTENT TO BE THE "NICE GUYS",
LETTING THESE HYPOCRITES THROW BOMBS AT US ALL DAY LONG,NEVER RESPONDING IN KIND?

Because the current crop of Republicans (not conservatives) are chumps who are just trying to keep their jobs.

They don't care. They are out of touch with reality and with real America. All they want to keep is power. That is why they have raised spending by the boatloads. I wish there would be some people to grow some steel balls and challenge the status quo.

Lets get the party back to what got us in 1994. The talk of fiscal discipline and restraint. This congress and president have NONE. Maybe a shakeup at the top is what we need.

I dont mean to wish ill-will on Delay. I just think that the guy has put the team ahead of what is best for the country and that is fiscal discipline and responsibility. I hope he comes out without being found guilty of anything.

I just dont want him to be the majority leader anymore. I want someone who will fight for what real conservatives believe in. Fiscal responsibility, Lets cut spending and stick up for what we believe. Talk about it and stop whining.

I hear Clinton take credit for welfare reform, cutting the deficit and other things. He was brought to the table kicking and screaming. It was the Congress who pushed these proposals that he didnt want to sign. Republicans in office are chicken to stand up and say what they have done. Instead they are always trying to save face and say ummmmm Im sorry. Come on -- stand up and lets SHOUT WHAT WE HAVE DONE AND BELIVE IN.

Stop being chicken.

Because most Republican's (and conservatives) are scratching their collective heads based on recent events and the way that our alleged party is handling those events, the general displeasure has initiated fair amount of discussion with regards to WWRD (what would Reagan do).

One point that was interesting as to how Reagan became who he was was when he was with GE, he would traverse the country and speak to, not just the financially wealthy groups, but to union members, blue collar groups, white collar groups, etc.. And not just give a speech but actually discuss issues with them.

From this, he learned what 'real Americans' thought and used those thoughts and opinions as the basis for his work in government.

Did a pretty good job too. No wonder he was one of our most popular and productive presidents.

Now we have a bunch of out of touch 'yes' men.