1115.org

It was eerie to see Tom DeLay’s mug shot from last week, smiling brightly and looking about as harmless as the neighbor who lends you his lawnmower and invites you over for barbecue. And considering how many people out there don’t know or don’t care about his various strong-arm tactics and numerous trips to the razor’s edge of ethical conduct, having Cheery Tom pose for the camera was probably a good idea. It’s a wonder he didn’t manage to sneak in a baby to kiss as the flashbulb popped.

So this is DeLay’s sales pitch, and it’s about as subtle as the guy telling you that the ‘93 Pontiac was owned by a little old lady who only drove it to church on Sundays. Behind the smile, however, DeLay is pushing about as hard as he can to frame his case as nothing less than a vicious partisan attack on conservatism itself, with himself as the Christ figure being nailed to the boards:

Rep. Tom DeLay, under indictment on campaign finance violations, railed against Democrats in a letter Thursday, accusing them of engaging in “the politics of personal destruction.”

The letter, sent to constituents and contributors, connected his case with investigations into possible misconduct by White House adviser Karl Rove and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.

“What we’re fighting is so much larger than a single court case or a single district attorney in Travis County,” the Texas Republican wrote. “We are witnessing the criminalization of conservative politics.”

Nice. If this letter had been held back a day, I’m sure DeLay could have somehow tied the Miers withdrawal into the pattern of destructive politics perpetuated by meanie Democrats. But think about it—Democrats control no branches of the government. They can’t call congressional hearings. As a group, they don’t have much power or leverage to work with. Back when Bill Clinton was President, the Republicans seemed to call for a Congressional investigation every time he ripped one and blamed it on the dog. Since George Bush has has taken up shop in the Oval Office, he’s been pretty much insulated from this sort of thing. If Democrats had the power to really stir the pot, wouldn’t there have been more movement on questioning the run-up to war directly, instead of blindly hoping that something comes out of the Fitzgerald investigation? There are dozens of questionable decisions and policies that the Dems could be making waves about if they had an outlet to do so, but the most they have been able to provide is the occasional soundbite rebuttal or chanting “shame” on the House floor.

Stripped of any significant ability to actually fight the Republicans in this administration and Congress, Democrats have to rely on the findings of Patrick Fitzgerald (who has been widely reported as apolitical), the SEC (a haven of liberalism, I’m sure) and Ronnie Earle (a Democrat, but one who has prosecuted high-level officials in both parties) just to dip a cautionary foot in the ring. Hardly a shadowy conspiracy, even though that sounds much more impressive. It’s not hard to understand DeLay’s motivation, though; he’s probably seen an episode or two of Oz and prison is looking a bit scary…