DeLay May Be Hurting His Own Cause

Tom DeLay went on the offensive yesterday, releasing a long written defense of the accusations against him and appearing on Tony Snow's radio show. DeLay isn't known as "The Hammer" because he's a shrinking violet - he's a fighter and I'm sure the daily garbage being thrown his way is really aggravating for him. However, there is a time to fight and a time to lay low, and I think he may be choosing the wrong approach. Yesterday, on the Snow show, DeLay chose to lay into judges again, and I can't believe that's going to be helpful to his cause:

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay intensified his criticism of the federal courts on Tuesday, singling out Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's work from the bench as "incredibly outrageous" because he has relied on international law and done research on the Internet.

DeLay also said he thought there were a "lot of Republican-appointed judges that are judicial activists."

The No. 2 Republican in the House has openly criticized the federal courts since they refused to order the reinsertion of Terry Schiavo's feeding tube. And he pointed to Kennedy as an example of Republican members of the Supreme Court who were activist and isolated.

"Absolutely. We've got Justice Kennedy writing decisions based upon international law, not the Constitution of the United States? That's just outrageous," DeLay told Fox News Radio. "And not only that, but he said in session that he does his own research on the Internet? That is just incredibly outrageous."

Although Kennedy was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Reagan, a conservative icon, he has aroused conservatives' ire by sometimes agreeing with the court's more liberal members. Nevertheless, it is unusual for a congressional leader to single out a Supreme Court justice for criticism.

I agree with him that Kennedy is a major disappointment, and no Supreme Court judge should be looking outside the U.S. Constitution when making decisions, but I think he should have avoiding diving back into the judge problem when he's already under fire after the Schiavo case. A little discretion would probably be a good thing right about now and he fights off the wolves that are after his job.

If we lose DeLay, we could lose the President's entire agenda and the Dems know that. That's why they'll take every opportunity to beat him over the head with his own statements.