After spending his victorious primary night partying with his lobbyist buddies, Representative Tom DeLay has decided to call it quits.

Uh, oh! Someone knows something about Tom DeLay that Tom DeLay doesn't want anyone to know.  

So what does he do? Why, the only thing that comes naturally to him -- he ran away -- to Virginia to partake in their delicious hams, their proximity to K-Street, and their distance from Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle.

It's true. The former House Republican Majority Leader has abandoned his reelection bid and is expected to resign from the House within the next few weeks. DeLay said "his decision was best for his district and based on troubling internal polling numbers" which "showed him beating Democrat Nick Lampson in the general election but in a race that would be too close for comfort."

Once again, Ann (Plagiarist) Coulter, you expose yourself as a hate-filled propagandist whose physical emaciation is matched only by your intellectual anemia.

"It probably goes without saying that it is extraordinary for criminal charges to be thrown out by a judge before any jury ever hears the evidence. For the judge to dismiss an indictment before trial, it means he concluded that -- even if the jury finds everything Ronnie Earle alleges to be true -- no crime was committed."

Wow, Ann... now we know why you're so horrifically thin: You're constantly overreaching -- and burning-off way too many calories stretching the truth. The conspiracy charge wasn't thrown out because it was baseless, it was thrown out on a technicality:

...DeLay lawyer Dick DeGuerin argued that one of the charges -- conspiracy to violate the Texas election code -- did not even take effect until September 2003, a year after the alleged offenses occurred.

Prosecutors, however, said the crime of conspiracy was already on the books and could be applied to the election code even though such uses were not explicitly in state law at the time.

"Obviously, this was a huge victory for DeLay..."

Sure, it's a HUGE victory ... if you discount the fact that one charge was thrown out on a technicality while the more serious charge of money laundering stands, and the fact that the still-indicted DeLay is unable to return to his House post, and the fact that his party is looking to replace him, and the fact that he has to spend time and money to defend himself against criminal charges, and the fact that the latest legal development reminded voters that he's in trouble.

What are you waiting for, Annie? Break out the champagne!

Did anyone hear Wade Goodwyn's discussion (Weekend Edition Sunday) of the questions the trial raises about the TX Judicial System? They explained the problem of asking for a partisan judge in a state where judges are elected.

A man interviewed--I think it was DeLay's lawyer or someone connected with DeLay--said something to the effect of "someone has to tell Ronnie Earle 'Whoa, there, calm down, Chicken Little!' "

I didn't hear the entire interview, but what I heard was appalling. The interviewer didn't pointed out that DeLay's team started this whole mess. No one pointed out that Earle made his counter-challenge in order to demonstrate the absurdity of DeLay's move.

Did anyone hear the entire interview? Was there any balance? Did anyone catch who it was who said the Chicken Little comment? My wimpy computer (with dial-up connection over old, decrepit telephone lines) is not letting me listen to the broadcast from the NPR website. Those with decent computers can listen here.