Tom DeLay Criticizes Supreme Court for Internet Research

I don't have an opinion on Tom DeLay's legal and ethical troubles, because I am not in a position to know the full facts in the case. I don't like to pass judgment on things I don't know about.

But I can comment on the House Majority Leader's increasingly shrill verbal attacks on those members of the judiciary with whom he disagrees.

DeLay's latest target is Justice Anthony Kennedy, one of President Ronald Reagan's appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court. Actually, Kennedy has been a frequent target of DeLay's criticisms, but the one that was unearthed today simply verges on the absurd.

According to the Associated Press, after citing Kennedy's decision in the case that ended the death penalty for those who were under 18 years of age when they committed their crimes, 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."

That comment is so bizarre, it simply deserves no response.

Except this: Tom DeLay is increasingly becoming a political liability to the Republican Party. He should do the honorable thing and step down from his leadership post. When Newt Gingrich failed to lead his party as well as expected in the 1998 elections, he did the right thing and resigned both as Speaker of the House and as a Member of Congress. DeLay should follow Gingrich's noble example.

Hat tip to both SW Virginia Law Blog and Professor Bainbridge.