Roy Blunt, Mini-Delay

So Tom Delay is out, and Roy Blunt, a slightly less foul-smelling version of Delay (this does not even rise to the level of damning with faint praise), is in.

The DLC has put out a somewhat wishy-washy call for Democrats to make Delay out to be merely an example of the corruption and cronyism that's killing our democracy, as I argued much more eloquently (and months ago) in King of Crooks, if I do say so myself (and I do.)

Ed Kilgore wonders over at TPMCafe why the liberal blogosphere has not been overtaken by sudden fits of grateful rapture at the DLC's late arrival at the "Republicans are Destroying the Country" party. In answer to Big Ed, allow me to quote the excellent Magnetic Fields:

So, you quote "love" unquote me
Well, stranger things have come to be
But let's agree to disagree
Cause I don't believe you
I don't believe you

It's one thing to put out a press release saying that Democrats have to turn Delay's accountability moment into a "reform moment." That's fine, but the DLC making some aggressive noises while there's no political cost (almost no one with any self-respect is defending Delay at this point) is nothing new. Unfortunately, when it comes to actually putting their chips on the table when there might be some actual risk involved, the DLC has quite a history of pulling a Bay of Pigs and leaving the real Democrats swinging in the wind while they cluck about how shrill and uncouth we "activists" have become.

Roy Blunt's assumption of Tom Delay's duties is a wonderful opportunity for the DLC to get out and lead the push to clean up the House of Representatives. Blunt is a corrupt asshole, and EVERYBODY knows it. The GOP replacing Delay with Blunt is an overt "Fuck You" to everyone who is calling for greater accountability and transparency in the federal legislature.

The difference between Blunt and Delay is that Blunt hasn't done anything overtly illegal. But if there's a systemic problem with the way the legislature is run, Blunt is just as emblematic of that problem as Tom Delay.

Case in point. Blunt is notorious for making last-minute changes to bills just before they are about to be brought to a vote, and the changes always seem to have one thing in common: They benefit Blunt's biggest contributors. He's an opponent of any kind of restriction on corporate financing of federal elections, and he supported the craven Republican effort to change House rules so that Delay wouldn't have to step down from his leadership post once he was indicted.

In short, Roy Blunt is not just part of the problem - along with Delay and Hastert and other toads just like him, Roy Blunt IS the problem.

So if the DLC is serious about holding the GOP's feet to the fire on this issue, they'll be right out on the front lines harshly criticizing Blunt's ascension to the House leadership.

I'll be waiting, but not holding my breath.