It’s the fox guarding the hen house… Again.

It seems there are no repercussions for being indicted in D.C. politics. For our old friend, Rep. Tom DeLay, it’s business as usual. While DeLay has been indicted on charges of conspiracy and money laundering in Texas, it appears this in no way affects his status within the Republican leadership.

In fact, Mr. DeLay has some new, important positions within the structure of Republican politics. Delay has now been made a member of the House Appropriations committee, as well as the sub-committee that oversees the Justice Department.

So, let’s see if I’ve got this right… A man who has been indicted on charges of conspiracy and money laundering, and is closely tied to an admittedly corrupt lobbyist, is now on the committee that writes the checks for Congress, as well as the one that oversees the department that will likely be investigating him. Okay. Makes perfect sense to me.

Unless the Republicans in this country want their party to forever be synonymous with corruption, incompetence, and scandal, they need to do something NOW to wrestle their party back from the power-drunk zealots who are currently in charge. I’m a tried and true liberal and a registered Democrat, but I can’t help but mourn at what appears to me to be the final downfall of the noble party of Lincoln. I may not agree with the Republicans, but I’ve always tried to respect them. And it’s sad to see that this party’s leadership is willing to strip all semblance of respectability just to try to maintain their fragile grip on power in this country.