THE LITTLE BUG MAN STILL THINKS HE'S HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER-- DELAY WON'T RELINQUISH POWER

Today's WASHINGTON POST has a story by Jonathan Weisman about how plenty of House Republicans are getting pissed off that DeLay is still trying to hold onto the power-- if not the title-- that was his as House Majority Leader. Some of them, the POST says "many" claim his ethical problems "are staining them and destabilizing GOP unity."

DeLay was forced to step down from his leadership post Sept. 28 as the indictments started coming in. But he continues to occupy one of the primo leadership offices and still struts around as though he were the BMOC. It's kind of creepy that to DeLay he's still "The Hammer" and he still insists on the prerogitives and perks of the Majority Leader's post. Example: "on his trips to the sheriff's office for an Oct. 20 booking in Houston and a court appearance in Austin on Oct. 21, DeLay was accompanied by three bodyguards from the Capitol Hill police force, just as he was when he was majority leader."

One GOP congressloon, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he fears DeLay's well-known penchant for vicious revenge, told THE POST "My issue is having an indicted former leader hanging around the leadership offices," said . "This guy did so much good work getting us into the majority. Why does he want to stick around? He's not helping us." Many Republicans feel their re-election chances are in jeopardy because of OVERWHELMING public perception that he is a crooked thug who probably belongs in prison, not Congress. (Over half the people responding to a Pew Poll released yesterday have an unfavorable view of the GOP, a new high, albeit well-deserved and long over-due.) One Republican who is likely to lose his re-election battle is Christopher Shays of Connecticut who doesn't need anonymity to speak out about DeLay. "Tom DeLay should not be in a position of authority. He should not be calling the shots or driving the agenda, and if he is, that would be unfortunate. Ethics is everything. If you don't have a strong moral standing, if you don't have an ethical foundation, you just crumble." Another New England Repug likely to lose his seat in '06 is Charlie Bass of New Hampshire who told THE POST that "this can't go on this way indefinitely," said Rep. Charles Bass (R-N.H.), a leader of House Republican moderates who wants an election in January to fill DeLay's slot. "We need to get this leadership issue behind us."

Meanwhile more of the unabashed Hard Right congressmen from DeLay's lunatic faction of the GOP are parading around town with hammer-shaped lapel pins. One notorious DeLay asskisser and boot-lick, Jack Kingston, an extreme right wing maniac from Georgia distributed a glossy profile of DeLay last week, gushing about DeLay's role in foster parenting, his run-in with an errant quail hunter, his love of jazz and his affections for his bichons friss , Bialy and Taylor, and his miniature dachshund, Scooter. "The 'Hammer' Has a Big Heart," read the headline.

According to THE POST story "DeLay's presence at a series of delicate talks on budget cutting last month with committee chairmen left some senior lawmakers dumbfounded, confused and even angry that a demand as sensitive as billions of dollars in spending cuts would come from a member without a leadership post or even a senior committee position. House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO) has temporarily assumed the post of majority leader. But with DeLay actively engaged in leadership business, the chain of command is confusing at best. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and other leaders remain publicly in DeLay's camp. Most importantly, DeLay remains intimately involved in setting legislative strategy, especially as the House drives to cut federal spending to help pay for a surge of hurricane relief. And he has continued his well-honed practice of rounding up votes on controversial measures that otherwise might not win House approval."

Ambitious Republicans who would like to see DeLay disappear entirely are already trying to round up support if he winds up in prison, including wingnut Zach Wamp of Tennessee, Mike Pence of Indiana, and John Boehner of Ohio (although his questionable relationship to Thomas Noe and the looted Ohio Workmen's Compensation Fund could land Boehner in even more trouble than DeLay is in). "There's a power vacuum," said Thomas M. Davis III (R-VA). "If we don't get some unity and sense of purpose soon, people will start looking after themselves." DeLay was the crook who brought home the bacon to the Republican members-- the conduit to the huge bribe money from the lobbying firms. If he's not doing it, someone else has to-- and fast.