DOOLITTLE FINALLY CALLS IT QUITS-- AND GOP SUFFERS ANOTHER SETBACK IN ARIZONA

No plea bargain announced as of 3 this afternoon

I like the idea that the first story I'm writing back from my travels in Asia is about the retirement-- not unexpected-- of one of the most corrupt and venal far right extremists in the U.S. Congress. True, it was just... yesterday that I was urging him to run again. But my soul is soaring that the crook will no longer be disgracing the state of California by his presence in our congressional delegation.

When I was at Heathrow this morning there were already rumors that he had decided not to run again. By the time I landed at LAX... it was all over.

“My wife, Julie, and I have made this decision after much prayer and deliberation. It was not my initial intent to retire, and I fully expected and planned to run again right up until very recently. But it distilled upon us that we were ready for a change after spending almost our entire married lives with me in public service”

Presumably his wife Julie and he were praying that Bush will be granting them a pardon when he leaves office next year since both are widely expected to be indicted, tried, found guilty and thrown into prison.

The A.P. report mentions the mounting pressure Doolittle was under from fellow Republicans to retire so they would have a fighting chance to retain the district-- and so the GOP can start cleaning up its image as the party of corruption. And if another couple dozen of them resign, they can start working on that. I would recommend another California crooked wing nut next: Jerry Lewis, who has spent over a million dollars (so far) in attorney fees to keep from being indicted. A few months ago I met with a remarkable and energetic woman from CA-41-- Lewis' Inland Empire district-- named Rita Ramirez-Dean and she is the progressive opposing Lewis. As far as Doolittle's former district, Charlie Brown is the candidate for Democrats, independents and even moderate Republicans who are sick and tired of the culture of corruption and sick and tired of narrow partisanship and wild extremism.

CNN points out that Doolittle is the 19th GOP incumbent to announce plans to retire-- so far. So far Doolittle hasn't announced a plea bargain but that is probably coming soon. For now he still insists he's innocent, something no one, on either side of the aisle, believes.

Doolittle has denied wrongdoing in his ties to Abramoff, the disgraced former lobbyist whom he considered a close friend. But after the FBI raided the congressman's Virginia home in April looking for information about event-planning work that Doolittle's wife did for Abramoff, the congressman was forced to step down from the powerful Appropriations Committee.

A flurry of grand jury subpoenas to the congressman and his aides followed. Party leaders pointedly declined to encourage Doolittle's re-election plans and his fundraising lagged.

Doolittle is contesting subpoenas for his congressional records as part of a larger dispute between Congress and the Justice Department over the scope of criminal investigations of lawmakers. That made it unlikely that his legal situation would be resolved before November's election.

For months Doolittle resisted suggestions that he retire, branding his GOP critics "weasels." But he faced mounting legal bills and at least two declared Republican primary opponents, with others waiting in the wings. Meanwhile, the Democrat he barely beat in 2006, Charlie Brown, collected 10 times as much money as the incumbent for a rematch. [Let's make it 20 times against whichever goon the GOP gets to step in for Doolittle.]

He will be the latest in a string of House Republicans to announce their retirements, although most don't have his legal problems. Nearly 20 others are headed into voluntary retirement.

Doolittle has a number of ties to Abramoff, including interceding on behalf of the lobbyist's tribal clients. He received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign money from Abramoff and his clients, and unlike other lawmakers he never got rid of it.

Abramoff's firm employed Julie Doolittle for event planning work from 2002 to 2004, paying her a total of $66,690. Doolittle has said prosecutors seem focused on whether his wife did real work to earn the money. The fundraiser she was hired to plan ended up getting canceled after the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

The Abramoff investigation already has led to a dozen convictions, including a guilty plea from [a close Doolittle associate] now imprisoned former Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio.

UPDATE: IT ISN'T ONLY REPUBLICAN INCUMBENTS WHO ARE DROPPING OUT-- ARIZONA DEBACLE

The GOP is having a very tough time recruiting top-notch candidates. We talked about how the Republican Party in New Jersey is being forced to face top-level Democrats with 4th and 5th choice Republicans when all the smart money tells the top contenders that this is not going to be a Republican year. Yesterday, Republicans in AZ-01-- the seat that was opened up when the Rick Renzi corruption investigation moved into high gear and he was tossed off his committees as an indictment appeared certain-- lost the only contender who had a chance to successfully contest the race, state Rep. Bill Konopnicki. Instead, it looks like the GOP will be stuck with a far right extremist viewed by most voters in Arizona as a "kook," Sydney Hay, head of the Arizona Mining Association.

Blue America has endorsed progressive reformer and citizen activist Howard Shanker for the Democratic nomination, although the Democratic Insider Establishment has a shill they're running as well. You can donate to Howard's campaign here.

Oh... I forgot to ask, any Blink 182 fans at DWT?