If Tom DeLay really wants to see the source of his problems, he needs to look in the mirror. He chose this path, and now he's paying the price.
The American people expect public servants to be able to police themselves. But instead of designing a system to enforce ethical conduct, Tom Delay and his cohorts have implemented a self protection system. Obviously, it wasn't good for democracy.
The DeLay story struck a nerve with people all across the United States because Tom DeLay put a face to what Walt Whitman called "the never-ending audacity of elected persons." Suddenly, they could see corruption up close.
Tom DeLay is a gift that keeps on giving, and has been for a long time.
For all intents and purposes, Mr. DeLay has set the agenda for the country at least for the last four years, and probably for longer than that.
I filed the ethics complaint against Tom DeLay not because I'm a Democrat and he's a Republican or even because he drew me out of my congressional seat but because he engaged in corruption to further his plans to disenfranchise voters in Texas.