Hammer and Tongs

He's trying to put a good face on it, but Tom DeLay is quitting.

He prayed and fasted, he says, and came to the conclusion that he'd rather leave the Congressional race and all the power he's built up over the years than run the risk of a bunch of liberal softies turning this election into a referendum on himself.

Yeah, right.

This is a guy who used intimidation, parliamentary folderol, illegal political money and outright lies to both enrich himself and defy the will of the American people, whether it agreed with him or not. That's the only way I can interpret his call for a "permanent conservative majority." I feel reasonably sure he's ducked out of this race largely because his associates are pleading guilty to federal crimes, and he knows his head's on the block. And now he's playing Christian martyr.

Looks like the "Hammer" has lost a good bit of his starch. Good riddance.

Coincidentally, this also happens to be the 30th anniversary of Sihanouk of Cambodia's abdication. The late, great Spalding Gray referred to this Prince as something like a "sax-playing, marijuana-loving, partying Buddha."

I don't know all the details of his abdication - had something to do with the Viet Cong's illegal bases in Cambodia and America's resulting invasion of the country - but one thing is fairly clear. Prince Sihanouk, in an effort to preserve peace, put up no resistance to his deposition. Afterwards, his country went through hell, courtesy of Pol Pot (y'mach shmo, may his name be erased), but he stuck around, and now his countrymen refer to him as "His Majesty" again.

Now seriously, which of these two would you rather hang out with?

Benshlomo says, Goodness survives.