Democratic Payback?

Here's what I think about Tom DeLay (search):

Breaking the law is bad. If he did it and if a jury finds that to be true and if it turns out to be a transparent prosecution which allows us all to see it's not a political hit job, fine, let the chips fall where they may.

But I don't know that I'm feeling real comfortable about this particular prosecutor in Texas.

First of all, as a Texas resident, I can tell you it's a new place. It is not the Democrat bastion it once was. Politics have changed down there and it's much, much, much more red state than it used to be.

Back in the old days of LBJ and Bill Moyers, the Dems ruled the state. They did all the gerrymandering to make sure it stayed a Dem state.

They were the ones who pulled the strings and made things happen to perpetuate their Dem utopia deep in the heart of Texas.

Well, things changed. Republicans found that a lot of voters had come over to their side and Republicans began to see that the old districts were designed to keep Democrats safe in their congressional seats. So the Republicans set out to change that situation, to have the electoral map of Texas reflect what has become a conservative majority.

DeLay was behind all that. They don't call him the hammer for nothing.

The Democrats didn't like it. Remember how they ran off to Oklahoma to try to stall the inevitable?

Well, now here comes a Democrat prosecutor based in the state capitol where everybody lives and breathes politics and he's suddenly going after Tom DeLay because a check went here instead of there.

And he got a grand jury to go along with him.

So DeLay gets indicted and as a consequence has to step aside from his job as Republican ramrod in the Congress.

It's nice how that worked out for the Democrats, isn't it?

Like I said, if DeLay is guilty of a crime and if we all look at the trial and say, "Hey, if the evidence fits, you must convict," then fine.

But I must say I have my suspicions about this one. There's just too much back-story in play to not have a reasonable suspicion that maybe this is payback for putting the Democrats in the backseat.

That's My Word.

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