Health & Politics

In one sense, I'm not sleeping well. That sense is that I continue to wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. That means I'm still struggling with my sleep apnea. On the other hand, I'm feeling more rested than I was, even with the nightly interruption. Today, as yesterday, I feel that I have good energy and a relatively positive outlook on life. I can't help but credit the new antidepressant for this overall better feeling. Obviously, I need both treatments for my continued health and well-being. Neither alone seems to do the trick.

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I see that Tom DeLay is going to resign his House seat. Pay no attention to what he says his reasons are (for the good of the party; to keep the seat in Republican hands by making the election in his district about policy not personality; or whatever). The truth of the matter is that had he continued his campaign, he was going to lose. The corruption scandals, both in Washington and in Texas and both involving him and his office and tactics, are what has ended his political career.

As the year unfolds, expect to see him convicted on the current charges in Texas and indicted in the Abramhoff scandal in Washington. The latter situation has already brought guilty pleas from two people who worked in his office and were close to him. He will be convicted, and he will be sent to prison.

His actions are his attempt, at the request of influential Republicans, to distance his problems from the Republican party. That shows a level of desperation by the incumbent Republicans that we haven't seen since they began to take power in 1994 with the Gingrich revolution.

At that time, the Republicans took control of the House because of the corruption of the incumbent Democrats, who had maintained all but the briefest of control over Congress since FDR and the New Deal. The Republicans promised to eliminate both corruption and waste in Washington. Not only have they failed to deliver, they have also proved even more adept than the Democrats at corruption. It won't be better under the Democrats, but a bit of churn in politics is the only way to at least keep the worst instances of corruption at bay from time to time.