Media Blog opines that all Ronnie Earle wanted was the indictment so DeLay would step down from his leadership position. Earle knows that he can’t convict DeLay since DeLay didn’t violate the law, but he can bust DeLay’s chops for a few months until DeLay gets acquitted.
This is the key to understanding the DeLay indictment: For Ronnie Earle, it is Game Over. He has already won. He doesn’t have to prove anything against Tom DeLay in court. He can’t. As the editorial on NRO today outlines, he has no proof that DeLay knew about the money transfers before they happened, and even if he did, the transfers themselves were not illegal.
I’ll write more later about the money transfers and what Wolf Blitzer and other journalists keep getting wrong about them. But for right now, it’s important to realize the cynical, political nature of this prosecution. The indictment was the finish line. Ronnie Earle’s race ended yesterday. Now he plays a waiting game. The last thing he wants to do is drag this baloney into a courtroom  he’s going to look like a fool when the judge throws it out. But the damage to DeLay and the GOP has been done. That’s what we call taking one for the team.
