Tom Thumb-Up-His...

The majority leader just can't shut the fuck up, it seems:

WASHINGTON, April 13 - The House majority leader, Tom DeLay, deflected all questions about his ethical conduct and his political future at a news conference today, insisting instead that he would continue his crusade against what he views an activist judiciary by ordering the Judiciary Committee to investigate the decisions of federal judges in the Terri Schiavo case.

At the crowded news conference - his first question-and-answer session with reporters since a fellow Republican, Representative Christopher Shays of Connecticut, called for him to resign his leadership post and another, Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, said Mr. DeLay must provide explanations to the public - the majority leader dismissed questions about ethics and his political future.

"I'm not here to discuss the Democrats' agenda," Mr. DeLay said. Instead, he renewed his complaints about "judicial activism," saying that reining in the courts was well within the purview of Congress.

So, Tom's opting for a farm defense: keep plowing, regardless of how many stones are in the field and how battered and dull the blade becomes. Of course, given that we're dealing with the political equivalent of a weasel on steriods--complete with a set of decent-sized teeth (and the possibility of rabies)--it's possible that the Bug Man might be able to lash out even as it's becoming clear that he's either up-a-tree or in a corner, depending on how you look at it. Speaking of how you look at it:

President Bush's spokesman, Scott McClellan, said, "We support his efforts, along with the efforts of other congressional leaders, to move forward on the agenda that the American people want us to enact." Asked if the majority leader and the president were friends, Mr. McClellan replied that the president does consider Mr. DeLay a friend, but suggested he's more a business associate than a social pal. "I think there are different levels of friendship with anybody."

Sounds a little like the time when Kenny Boy Lay learned the harsh reality about instant outsider status...minus any references to gubenatorial support.

And, Newt Gingrich, who certainly knows from experience how quickly one can go from commanding the ship to walking the plank, weighed in, presuming that the minions were fed up with DeLay's tired excuses--and, given that he's Newt Gingrich, opted for a daggar thrust in the direction of Hillary Clinton, too:

...the former speaker of the House said in an interview with CBS News that it was time for Mr. DeLay to stop blaming Democrats and address the American people.

"Well, that's the famous Hillary Clinton defense," Mr. Gingrich said. "This is the vast left-wing, you know, conspiracy as opposed to her description of a vast right-wing conspiracy."

Ouch, that must hurt for Tom--being likened to Hillary, e.g., the personification of all that is evil in the eyes of the GOP.

Speaking of evil: while it certainly is amusing to watch the simultaneous batshit rantings, yogi-like pretzel twists of logic, and the overall political death watch atmosphere going on here, there's a part of me that wants DeLay to hang around until the mid-term elections. I mean, DeLay might be able to pull the wool over their eyes in Sugarland, but I'd be willing to bet that most of the South--and perhaps even most of Texas--thinks he's a kook, if not a vicious little moron. Let him be the issue in 2006.

Because he's going to lose big.

Then, once he's served his purpose, he can slither back to whatever crawlspace he calls home.