Good Republican Statesmen

We see very little statesmanlike behavior from our congressmen. Ten former republican senators urged the House to reverse the changes they made to ethics rules in January in order "to restore public confidence in the people's House." I applaud their efforts to encourage good conduct.

Three current republican congressmen are asking DeLay to step down temporarily so that the "trumped up charges can be dealt with in a less hostile environment."

DeLay doesn't need to step down. The House should do what it needs to in order to initiate an investigation, and DeLay should cooperate. This whole stepping down thing is crazy. You should only resign if you're guilty of the charges. If the investigation reveals that you are somehow implicated in wrongdoing, you'll be removed. Clearly, DeLay thinks he's done nothing wrong, so it would be silly for him step down. As for the charges being "trumped up," I highly doubt it. One, maybe. But three assertions of wrongdoing must have at least some merit.