"Like the rise and fall of many a pugnacious politician, the case of Representative Tom DeLay, the pest exterminator turned power broker, is certainly spellbinding for its individual drama. But it is more important to note that Mr. DeLay's political demise hardly ends the influence-peddling culture to which he devoted himself. The DeLay machine's tooth-and-claw approach to politics lives on, from the Texas delegation he brazenly gerrymandered to his quid pro quo debasing of the lobbying industry.
Across two decades in Congress, Mr. DeLay pushed every limit of his power base to the extreme. He was ultimately indicted on charges of laundering the easy corporate money of Washington for use in Texas politics to win a statehouse majority and gerrymander Texas Democrats into a permanent minority. The DeLay brand of bare-knuckled triumphalism was clearly an enabling factor in the separate scandal that has prompted the indictment of two of his former lieutenants and his erstwhile ally, Jack Abramoff, the disgraced superlobbyist."
Get the Story:Editorial: The Fall of the Hammer (The New York Times 4/5)
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