Good Riddance! But, Who Did More Damage to the Country?

Friday was a red letter day for the country. In the wee small hours of the morning, the American public learned that Al-Qaeda's public face in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed when Air Force jets lobbed two 500 pound bombs onto his "safehouse." But the real reason for celebrating came later in the day as Tom DeLay finally left Congress to await his eventual conviction and incarceration on myriad counts of bribery, ethics violations and so on and so forth.

You'll have to excuse me for being a little more enthused about Delay's departure from Capitol Hill than al-Zarqawi's departure from the mortal coil, because DeLay's corrupt leadership of the House of Representative's was more destructive to the United States of America than al-Zarqawi could ever hope to have been.

Before I get in to facts and figures, which although meaningless to the GOP zombie hordes do tend to add a little something to discussions in the reality-based community, let me explain that I am talking about actual measurable detriment to the American people. Yes, al-Zarqawi has killed, either directly or through the plans he has set in motion, hundreds of American soldiers and the members of the American press corps who have been assigned to cover the disastrous war in Iraq. However, I think history will show that almost every American citizen, even those yet to be born will feel the effects of "The Hammer's" time as Speaker of the House.

Where to begin?

(By the way, these are all facts in evidence as they say. I'm only recapping for the sake of argument. A simple Google search, which even the slowest of Republican sympathizers can accomplish, will reveal ample documentation of what I'm saying here, so excuse my lazy lack of footnotes.)

Let's start with the redistricting of Texas. DeLay, while Speaker of the House, used his influence to task Homeland Security assets with the job of tracking down a group of Democratic Texas legislators and force them to return to the state capitol. All this effort so that his GOP cronies back home could redistrict the state well in advance of the federal census and, more importantly, the 2004 election.

From extraordinary federal intervention in state business we go to pathetic legislative inaction in the service of industry lobbyists. As Speaker, DeLay's time and again refused to allow debate or a vote on proposed legislation that would have ended forced labor in the garment industries of the Marianas Islands. Even worse, the women working in these sweatshops are also forced into the islands thriving sex trade and made to have abortions when pregnancies occur as a result. It's amazing how quickly morals can be shucked in the face of campaign contributions and cushy golf outings.

Those are just two of the most egregious and offensive of Tom DeLay's crimes against the American people, but they're not the only ones. In his time as Speaker, DeLay has been complicit in the plundering of the American economy; helping to turn a historic surplus into an equally historic deficit, saddling generations of Americans not even born with the bill. He has helped slash the budgets of governmental programs from veteran's benefits and border security to school lunches and environmental protection.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been responsible for the deaths of countless American soldiers, but the policies Tom DeLay helped pass into law will continue to devastate American families long after our troops have left Iraq. So you tell me, who was the more dangerous man?