Further, I will sound a note of caution, here, that given their history, the Democrats have no moral authority whatever in the matter.

Not sure I am following you. How is it the democrats fault that DeLay is slimy?

James is certainly correct. Politicians of both parties at this level should be held to a HIGHER standard then that on the books. We have no shortage of corruption & abuse of power in both parties.

Those in power are quite happy to have us engage in finger pointing and partisan bickering while they rake in the chips.

The issue here is not directly dependent on any charges that may have been alleged against Tom DeLay or anyone else. Therefore substantiation or lack thereof regarding such charges has no bearing.

Objection; n both your comments assume facts not entered yet.
First, define ethical,
Secone defioine the context of the acts he's accused of,

THEN tell us how his actions went outside these.

I've seen none of it, here.

Yeah, well. If they can't obey their own damn rules they deserve to be beat about the head and shoulders with the rule book.

If you don't want to be called a crook, quit acting crooked. They just want to define crooked down.

DeLay has already been called for indiscretions by the Ethics Committee. Since he's the apparent reason this question came up in either case, I'd say one man is certainly not worth sacrificing our principles. Certainly not DeLay.

I'm unconvinced we're not playing intot he Democrats' hands here. We're letting them dictate according to rules that

**in reality *they alone* decided upon, while they had that level of control.

** THey din't follow and would not convict their own on when they got caught running afoul of them.

(Notable exception: Jim Trafficant, whom, had he not been about spanking his fellow Democrats so often, would have been dfefended against enforcement of the rules, just like those before him)

Your comment about not just following the black and white law, but actually being ethical, are well taken. LAws cannot define a culture, and laws do not define ethics. If the two don't track, then it also stands to reason that someone can be ethical while NOT following the black and white in every single respect; this is a two way street.

But of course you'll never get the Democrats to deal with this point; they'll duck it every time... at least until we're unlucky enough for them to get back into power.

What I'm suggesting is that the Democrats are using the black and white rulebook as a tool to beat the Republicans over the head with, sicne they've run out of other tools to do the job with.

... and that if we bow to them here, we're handing them the tools to do it with.