when the hammer itself starts to look like a nail

i think i would lose my warblogging license if i didn't post that former house majority leader tom delay has announced that he is resigning from congress and won't run for reelection (or as doug put it, "delay cuts and runs").

delay had already won his primary, so in order to pull out of the race he needs to bend the rules one more time: he's not allowed to simply pull out of the race at this point, so he is going to change his official residence from texas to virginia. if he is no longer a texas resident, he will be ineligible for the race.

delay still publicly pretends that he did nothing wrong and will be absolved from any wrongdoing when he goes to trial. his denials are funny considering that two of his top aides and one of his closest associates (abramoff) are now convicted felons. but more humorous is the idea that delay's departure will clear the cloud of corruption that's surrounded him in the house. delay was an architect of the corrupt GOP political machine. that machine still stands; it's still running and will continue to pump pollution into our political system until major changes have been made. the republicans have repeatedly demonstrated that they're not ready (and probably not able) to clean it all up.¶