Who could be more deserving?

I just want to add a couple of thoughts to Ron's post below on Da' Hammer's decision to step down. On the one hand, yes... it's unfortunate. One of the best things about Katherine Harris' decision to stay in the Florida Senate race is the extreme likelihood that she'll be beaten, and DeLay was quickly turning into a poster boy for a similar fate in the House of Representatives. But at the same time, we should still take heart in the fact that the system worked... something increasingly rare these days. Misdeeds were brought to light by public watchdogs, information was gleaned and released to the public, and one of the more nasty and corrupt people to ever find their way into high positions of public office was sent packing.

In another universe DeLay might even have been punished, but that's too much to hope for in America today. Powerful, wealthy politicians insulate themselves too well and make sure that the justice system is too firmly in their back pockets to find themselves before a jury unless their misdeeds rise to the level of blatant felonies, such as those of Duke Cunningham.

Because of some of the many vagaries of Texas law, DeLay can't even be removed from the November ballot unless he either:

• dies
• is convicted of a felony
• or moves out of the state

As such, he's apparently changing his home address of record to Virginia next month.

Goodbye, Tom. And don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.