Declaring war on democracy

House Republicans meet next week to replace Tom DeLay, who resigned as majority leader after he could no longer outrun or outwit a firestorm of corruption. DeLay soon faces a trial on criminal charges that he laundered illegal campaign contributions, but that’s only the beginning of his troubles.

From his post in the House, he created a vast network of influence-peddling and fund-raising, known around the capital as “DeLay Inc.,” that produced lush salaries for his friends, lush contributions for his allies, and lush privileges for himself — including corporate jets he used like free taxis.

Now two key cogs in DeLay Inc., Michael Scanlon and Jack Abramoff, have pleaded guilty to corruption charges. To minimize their jail time, they’re singing their hearts out to federal prosecutors, and their lyrics almost certainly contain the lilting refrain, “Tom DeLay made me do it.”

This is a familiar story. As a lawmaker’s influence grows, so does his arrogance. Maintaining power, and its perks, becomes an end in itself.

DeLay’s sins, however, run far deeper and inflict more damage than mere money grubbing and favor selling. He has used his position to alter the constitutional balance of power, to subvert the rivals and procedures that can hold him accountable for his actions.

But we’re not talking about normal political hardball here. We have reported in countries where the winners routinely change the system to undermine the opposition and cement their own position. We’ve witnessed the result: rising cynicism and declining confidence in the essential fairness of democracy. And that’s exactly what DeLay has done in at least four ways.

First is the Texas redistricting case. Normally, congressional districts are redrawn every 10 years, but that was too slow for DeLay. He raised money from corporate interests for Republican legislative candidates — flouting state law, according to the indictment against him — and after the GOP used those tainted funds to capture the Texas legislature, DeLay proposed a new map for House elections in 2004, eight years ahead of schedule.

When Democrats resisted the power play by fleeing the state, DeLay used a federal agency to track them down (and earn a reprimand from the House Ethics Committee). When DeLay’s minions finally had their way, the new districts produced a gain of six seats for the Republicans.

The second instance involves the House Ethics Committee, the only effective check on congressional corruption short of legal prosecution. The panel, chaired by an independent-minded Republican, Joel Hefley, admonished DeLay four different times. The former majority leader was so incensed that he engineered Hefley’s removal and replaced him with a personal crony, Doc Hastings. The new chairman is so ineffectual that the Ethics Committee has not even met for the last year.

The third example of DeLay’s anti-democratic tendencies: he has pressured lobbyists and trade associations to hire only Republicans (yes, the Ethics Committee slapped his wrist on that one, too). These GOP operatives, in turn, raise vast sums for Republican candidates, further insulating them against swings of political fortune.

DeLay’s final sin is self-righteous arrogance. As Terri Schiavo lay comatose in Florida, he pushed through Congress a bill moving her case from state to federal court. His reasoning: “the universal law of right and wrong” gave Congress an “absolute” right to trash yet another check on his power — established legal procedures. A Republican-appointed judge rejected that position.

Declaring war on Democrats is part of politics. But Tom DeLay fell from power because he declared war on democracy itself.

Steve and Cokie Roberts can be contacted by e-mail at stevecokie@gmail.com.