The American Spectator

I seem to recall some rather indignant reactions when I dared to suggest back in September that it was time to cut DeLay loose. National Review, calling for DeLay to step aside in light of developments in the Abramoff scandal, sticks by the line that to dump DeLay then “would have rewarded a Democratic political power play.”

Come on: Democrats haven’t stopped hating DeLay, and lots of them will be feeling “rewarded” by his downfall, and will cheer it. They’ll be wrong to cheer, since they’ll be weaker against a different Majority Leader. The Abramoff plea deal makes this only slightly more true now than it was in the fall. And don’t kid yourself: Since the moment DeLay took his “temporary” leave, and certainly since Roy Blunt beat out David Dreier for acting leader, the leadership on the Hill has just been waiting for the right moment to push him out for good. I’m glad they’ve found it.