The Ignominious End of Tom DeLay

They sure don't make cowboys like they used to. Today, Texas hangs its head in shame over the sad end of its second-favorite son.

Dogged by scandal, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said Tuesday he will do whatever is necessary to remove his name from the ballot, a step that will allow the party to field a write-in candidate in hopes of holding his seat in Texas.

DeLay acted one day after Texas Republicans lost a court battle in their bid to name a replacement candidate for him on the November ballot.

"I will take the actions necessary to remove my name from the Texas ballot. To do anything else would be hypocrisy," DeLay said in a statement. "I strongly encourage the Republican Party to take any and all actions necessary to give Texas voters an up-or-down choice this fall between two major party candidates."

There was every sign they were trying. Several Republicans said local party officials hoped to unite behind a write-in candidate, possibly David Wallace, mayor of DeLay's home town of Sugar Land.

Pathetic.

DeLay qualified for re-election, and fought a primary campaign against fellow Republicans, only to drop out and leave a Democrat alone on the ballot. Yeah, I'm sure that write-in thing will go gangbusters. Welcome to Washington, Rep. Lampson.

Hypocrisy, Tom, is convincing people to donate to your re-election campaign, only to shaft them and use the money to pay your legal bills. That's hypocrisy.

In the end, the dreaded Hammer was nothing but another GOP con man. Soon, he'll be another GOP convict. Good riddance.