I suspect that there will be much cheering from both Democrat and paleo circles about the indictment of Tom Delay, but I am not one of those cheering. This is not because I like or respect Delay — I certainly do not — but I do respect rule of law, no matter how much it has been destroyed in the United States of Amerika.

First, make no mistake about it: this is a political indictment. The crime with which he is charged is “conspiracy” to violate the Texas law regarding corporate money and political contributions. The man behind the indictment is Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, who is notorious for pursuing political indictments and is a symbol to me of everything that is wrong with law in the USA.Yes, I know that many readers will see this as a form of rough justice, but, to be honest, if we are to have integrity, we ought to be able to stand for something on principle. First, the “crime” of conspiracy is nothing more than a tool that prosecutors use to indict and convict someone when they cannot prove that a real crime has taken place.

Second, the real issue here is that a leading Democrat in Texas is angry because the Republicans beat the Democrats in elections in that state. While I wish a pox on both their houses (as well as the houses of the House and Senate), I still believe in being consistent when it comes to matter of law, and especially criminal law. When people seek to criminalize political differences — and make no mistake, that is what has happened here — then rule of law no longer exists.

As for Delay, no doubt he has voted many times in favor of the “conspiracy” law (on the federal level, but here the state simply is copying the feds), so he now finds himself caught up in a legal web that he helped to create. That is ironic, no doubt, but I am going to stand up for the rats as well as the “good people.”