In listening to Tom DeLay's farewell address to the House, I was struck to hear him list three ways to leave Congress: defeat, death, and retirement. He neglected to mention the fourth avenue, which applied to him: disgrace.
Watching this "historic presentation," I looked to my far right and spied Bob Ney (his face extremely red and discolored) sitting next to "Mean Jean" Schmidt (the woman who attacked Jack Murtha) and Deborah Pryce, the fourthranking Republican under extreme assault. I wondered. "What must be going through their minds?"
People depart public service under many circumstances, but this was, without question, the most graceless presentation I have ever witnessed. This was not a goodbye speech, it was clearly the first speech of DeLay's next career, a practice run for delivering it countless times in the months ahead to raise tens of thousands of dollars for his legal bills.
Of course, his comment, "Results speak for themselves," is true. Crossing over the ethical -- and probably the legal -- line is a sad legacy not just for his own public service, but for the House as well. It will take years, if not decades, for the House to recover from Tom DeLay's "leadership." His tactics weren't just partisan and secretive; they created a spoils system that has spawned, most recently, the abuses of the appropriations process that are now making headlines at home.
It was telling that, at a time when his closest associates and friends are pleading guilty to corruption charges, Tom DeLay can't think of anything he would have done differently except to have fought harder.
Even his final attempt to end his presentation on a high note, by talking about abused and neglected children who fall through society's cracks, fell flat. Both his personal claim for addressing this situation and his parting admonition to Congress to continue his efforts were tragic statements. Here was a man at the very pinnacle of power -- arguably the most influential Member of the House of Representatives for the past 12 years -- who was either unable or unwilling to use his great power to make any meaningful changes in a system he found abhorrent.
What would have happened if he had used his great influence on behalf of the children he claims to care so much about - instead of furthering special interests like big corporations operating in the Marianas Islands? From his leadership position, he could have commanded immediate and sympathetic media attention and vast amounts of money to help correct this horrible problem. Tom DeLay's tragic legacy is of professing so much passion for a worthwhile cause and accomplishing so very little.
By the time DeLay left the House floor, virtually everyone on the Democratic side of the aisle had already left. Trapped with my broken foot, I stayed until the end to watch this train wreck unfold, convinced that his final words would have at least a bit of regret or contrition. But none was evident as he plunged into a crowd of Republican well-wishers, all sporting little hammer pins on their lapels.
Earl Blumenauer represents Oregon's 3rd District in the US House of Representatives.
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