April 04, 2006

Tom DeLay Resigns -- What's a Citizen Hunter to Do?

In a way, Tom DeLay's resignation helps to prove that any person, no matter how powerful, can be taken down if citizens decide to rise up and demand that they represent the interests of their consituents and work to improve the lives of those they serve. Unfortunately, many politicians in DC have forgotten who they work for - they allow money, special interests and extreme partisanship to govern their decisions and our nation pays a very steep price because of it.

Tom Delay had become an icon for what is broken in our politics - extensive corruption, ethics violations and bitter partisan activism that hurt America and her people. Many of DeLay's Republican colleagues circled the wagons to defend him. They supported a rule to ensure that even after indictment he would not have to step down. They de-clawed the ethics committee - just when it should have been strongest - to make sure he would not be penalized. Regular citizens said enough is enough, and I credit their passion and voices for Delay's realizing that seeking re-election would be futile.

There is plenty of blame to go around on both sides of the aisle. Too many Democrats have turned Rep. Tom DeLay into just another platitude in their partisan attacks. True, Tom DeLay and his allies should be judged at the ballot box in the upcoming elections, but we must do more than score political victories. Even in the light of this scandal both parties have refused to stand up and call for real ethics and campaign-finance reform. This is no time for end-zone dances - there is too much work to be done.

Justice Brandeis once remarked that "sunlight is the greatest disinfectant," so let's use this opportunity to push our leaders and each other into a real discussion on not just DeLay's corruption, but a system and culture that allowed it to happen.

Check out my columns and editorials on these issues, which as you can see have been troubling me for quite some time. Talk is cheap, though, so if you are pressed for time skip my thoughts on the issue and find out what you can do right now to take action. From writing your representatives to volunteering in your community to letting your newspapers know you care about these issues and want to read more about them in their pages, you will find lots to do. For me, at least, the point is to turn an event that could breed cynicism and dissapointment into one that empowers me to realize that I need to hunt for citizens and the citizen within myself who find out how your leaders voted on these issues, see what legislation is currently out there with respect to them, follow the campaign money trail, and learn about groups who are working to combat the cancer of corruption that is eating away at the very fabric of our democracy.

Use the comments to tell me what you did and how it went, and if there are other ways citizen hutners should take action on these very important issues.



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