The stench in change that helps DeLay smells fishy

An angry essay by the Washington Post's E. J. Dionne on the recent House GOP rule change that would allow Tom DeLay to continue as Majority Leader even if he's indicted, via the Houston Chronicle:

Recall how Republicans dismissed any and all who charged that the investigations of President Bill Clinton by special prosecutor Ken Starr were politically motivated. Ah, but those were investigations of a shady Democrat by a distinguished Republican. When a Democrat is investigating a Republican, it can only be about politics. Is that clear?

Rep. Henry Bonilla, the Texas Republican who sponsored the resolution to protect DeLay, said it was designed to protect against "crackpot" prosecutors whose indictments might get in the way of the ability of House Republicans to choose their own leaders. Can't let a little thing like an indictment get in the way of the sovereignty of House Republicans, can we?

"Attorneys tell me you can be indicted for just about anything in this country," said Bonilla. Remember the old days during the Clinton impeachment when Republicans went on and on about the importance of "the rule of law?" Oh, well.

DeLay's response to the whole thing came, almost word for word, from Clinton's old talking points. "We must stop the politics of personal destruction," Clinton said in December 1998 after the House impeachment vote that DeLay had rammed through. On Wednesday, DeLay said that Democrats "announced years ago that they were going to engage in the politics of personal destruction and had me as a target." Maybe it's time for Bill and Tom to sit down at that big new library in Little Rock for a friendly drink.

Click here for the rest.

Of course, what Dionne leaves out is that Clinton was impeached for lying about a private sexual encounter, while DeLay is under investigation for violating campaign finance laws and racketeering. Call me old fashioned, but I do think there's a wee bit of difference: Kenneth Starr's investigation was, indeed, politically motivated; Travis County DA Ronnie Earle's investigation is not--of the fifteen politicians Earle has prosecuted throughout his career, eleven of them were Democrats, and I think that statistic speaks for itself.

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