Editorial: It’s a spin, spin world

Wednesday, April 5, 2006 | 7:20 a.m.

Rep. Tom DeLay's fall from grace descended a ways further Tuesday when he formally announced that he would soon resign from Congress. The Texas Republican's choice of political spin proved that he is still defiant in the face of unfolding facts bearing on his fitness for office.

He portrayed his decision as a gallant, self-sacrificing move to protect the Republican Party and his longtime GOP seat from "liberal Democrats."

"I refuse to allow liberal Democrats an opportunity to steal this seat with a negative, personal campaign," said DeLay, whose acrimony toward Democrats has been a hallmark of his political career.

DeLay held House leadership positions from 1994 until September. At that point he was forced to step aside as majority leader after a Texas grand jury indicted him on charges of breaking the state's campaign finance law. Another Texas grand jury indicted DeLay and two associates in October on money-laundering charges.

He has never broken any laws or House rules, DeLay maintains. But how much better it would have been if he had simply acknowledged Tuesday that his name is now steeped in too much controversy to continue as a member of Congress. The controversy includes his indictments, past admonitions by the House Ethics Committee and the fact that two of his former key staff members, Tony Rudy and Michael Scanlon, have pleaded guilty to corruption charges in the scandal surrounding convicted former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

DeLay has not been charged in the Abramoff debacle but is often mentioned as the investigation continues. Abramoff, Rudy and Scanlon are cooperating with federal investigators. In the mind of one former Justice Department official quoted Tuesday by Bloomberg News, "The domino theory is well at work here."

And liberal Democrats have nothing to do with it.