Oh What Fun

I think the last time I turned onto "Nightline" with anticipation was in October 2000 when they did a feature on the New York Subway Series. Then, as we all know, the nation went to Hell, starting with a stolen election, and has had a terrorist attack, a dot-com bubble burst, a return to Luddite spirituality as a governing principle, a bogus endless war, SUVs, cellphones in airports and horrendous natural disasters. I have cringed from the prospect of reliving these events on that quality news show, even as Ted Koppell's eminent presence comes to a close.

But not last night! What a relief to find an episode about an event that may finally signal a turning point in the Republican hijacking of our culture. The indictment of House Speaker Tom DeLay was long overdue. In Congress he was known as "The Hammer", but in Texas he was known as "Teflon Tom," for his gift of ethical sidestepping. Although he may or may not be convicted, the stigma will remain, and not be helped by the other inquiry into his overseas dalliance with lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Add this to the stock dealings of Bill Frist and the CIA exposure case involving Karl Rove and the Reps have a lot of 'splainin' to do.

Although I clearly take partisan pleasure in all of this, I am not blind to the fact that most politicians are corrupt, and are used to getting away with these casually illegal perquisites of their offices. It wasn't long ago that the Democratic Speaker of the House had his dirty laundry exposed. Ronnie Earle, the Democratic D.A. whom the indicted DeLay calls an "unabashed partisan zealot" (don't you love that?) has called to task more Democrats than Republicans in his ethical housecleaning. DeLay probably believes that overstatement and the Big Lie, which has worked so well for both Republicans (from WMD-gate to the "Swift Boat" defamers) and the Nazis, will somehow enable them to sweep the growing scandal filth under the rug.

Unfortunately, whatever happens to DeLay--who will likely survive only as a shadow of his former influence, like fellow hypocrites Newt Gingrich and Robert Livingston--his damage is already done. He was of course instrumental in the obstructionist Clinton impeachment proceedings, which took much of the admininistrations's attention away from the growing terrorist threat they were trying to target. And his clever and effective machinations in the Texas election process, which includes the siphoning of corporate funds that is the crux of the current indictment, did help redistrict the state and add a significant five Republican congresspeople. Too bad he didn't he didn't apply that efficiency to FEMA or the Iraqi occupation. His successful politicizing simply strengthened the neocom forces that brought us to the current Dark Ages of American history.

I don't know how this will play out in the upcoming 2006 or 2008 elections. The Republicans are unusually lucky that these events are happening so early in a presidential term, with time for recovery before a major vote. Currently the popularity of the current Congress lies in the 30% range, which is where it was for the Dems in 1994 before the slickly executed Gingrich Revolution changed the color of Congress from blue to red. In pure political terms it behooves the Dems to stretch out these events as long as possible, and do their best to tie them to the leadership in the White House. The latter association will be more difficult, except in the Valerie Plame case. (Can we call that the Plame Game?) But Georgie W. has his own image problems and a leadership profile that is beginning to crumble.

What a shame"Nightline" will be going off the air.