I’m not talking about the Texas stuff, that was crap invented out of whole cloth. I’m talking about Jack Abramoff and Bob Ney and the whole stinking machine that DeLay set up to rake in campaign contributions from the lobbyists. I’m talking about him putting his wife and daughter on his campaign payroll, setting up staff members with lucrative lobbying jobs and steering earmarks to their clients, and on and on. DeLay would have been run out of the House eventually for that stuff even if the Texas stuff had never happened. The funny thing is, the Democrats cared more about nailing him for getting those five Republicans elected to the House in Texas than for him corrupting the entire House.
Not funny at all. Most Democrats have the same cushy setups on staffing their family members, lobbying interests and earmarks.
So, in addition to the Texas election charges, the ethics "crap" you refer to is standard operating procedure in DC - making the entire effort to topple DeLay a bogus Democrat witchhunt.
Should we hold Republicans to a higher standard? Perhaps, but I'm inclined to say no.
But politics ain't beanbag. I'd rather fight the Democrats on the same dirty, but level playing field.
And Tom DeLay was no more corrupt than any other Congresscritter.