But no. Members of the Republican caucus rushed into an emergency repair session and opted to continue their shabby business as usual

The Wrong-Way Congress - New York Times: "Published: September 30, 2005

The indictment of the House majority leader, Tom DeLay, should have been an opportunity for Republicans to show the nation that they are ready to turn the page on the abuses of big-money politics and lobbyist pandering. At a minimum, you'd think the party would want to demonstrate that it had moved beyond Mr. DeLay's philosophy that Congress should feel free to break the bank with out-of-control spending and tax cuts for the wealthy as long as it made G.O.P. contributors happy.

But no. Members of the Republican caucus rushed into an emergency repair session and - quite amazingly - opted to continue their shabby business as usual. In choosing Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri as Mr. DeLay's immediate replacement, the members presented as their new face of leadership still another political wheeler-dealer best known for his deep ties to Washington's corporate lobbying industry.

A hand-groomed protégé of Mr. DeLay, Mr. Blunt promises no change in the retrogressive Republican program that has polarized the nation and driven generations of taxpayers into deeper national debt.

Sycophantic supporters are already praising the new majority leader as more of a "conciliator," with a lighter touch and "more approachable" personality - as if the lawmakers' challenge were all about their own intramural peace rather than the nation's fraying commonweal.

Speaker Dennis Hastert's initial attempt to quickly slip the majority gavel to Representative David Dreier of California caused a rebellion by conservatives who found Mr. Dreier too "moderate," even though he has spent much of his career doing Mr. DeLay's bidding. "Moderate" is a highly relative, if not extinct, word in the G.O.P. caucus. So the But no. Members of the Republican caucus rushed into an emergency repair session and - quite amazingly - opted to continue their shabby business as usual. In choosing Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri as Mr. DeLay's immediate replacement, the members presented as their new face of leadership still another political wheeler-dealer best known for his deep ties to Washington's corporate lobbying industry.

A hand-groomed protégé of Mr. DeLay, Mr. Blunt promises no change in the retrogressive Republican program that has polarized the nation and driven generations of taxpayers into deeper national debt.

Sycophantic supporters are already praising the new majority leader as more of a "conciliator," with a lighter touch and "more approachable" personality - as if the lawmakers' challenge were all about their own intramural peace rather than the nation's fraying commonweal.

Speaker Dennis Hastert's initial attempt to quickly slip the majority gavel to Representative David Dreier of California caused a rebellion by conservatives who found Mr. Dreier too "moderate," even though he has spent much of his career doing Mr. DeLay's bidding. "Moderate" is a highly relative, if not extinct, word in the G.O.P. caucus. So the befuddled speaker settled on Mr. Blunt, a hidebound conservative known for his talent as the whip in forcefully delivering administration bills and corporate campaign donations. .