If you are a conservative Republican and The Wall Street Journal starts writing bad stuff about you . . . . - Rep. DeLay "Smells Like Beltway."

The Monday Wall Street Journal has as the title of its lead editorial "Smells Like Beltway." Prior to recounting all of Rep. Tom DeLays ethics troubles, it notes:

"In Beltway-speak, what this means is that Mr. DeLay has an "odor": nothing too incriminating, nothing actually criminal, just an unsavory whiff that could have GOP loyalists reaching for the political Glade if it gets any worse.

"The Beltway wisdom is right. Mr. DeLay does have odor issues. Increasingly, he smells just like the Beltway itself."

Then the Journal gives an "abbreviated rap sheet against Mr. DeLay" (the WSJ is a subscription, but if you want the article, I can e-mail it to you), concludes (excerpts):

"Taken separately, and on present evidence, none of the latest charges directly touch Mr. DeLay; at worst, they paint a picture of a man who makes enemies by playing political hardball and loses admirers by resorting to politics-as-usual.

"The problem, rather, is that Mr. DeLay, who rode to power in 1994 on a wave of revulsion at the everyday ways of big government, has become the living exemplar of some of its worst habits."

"Rather than buck this system as he promised to do while in the minority, Mr. DeLay has become its undisputed and unapologetic master as Majority Leader.

"Whether Mr. DeLay violated the small print of House Ethics or campaign-finance rules is thus largely beside the point. His real fault lies in betraying the broader set of principles that brought him into office, and which, if he continues as before, sooner or later will sweep him out."

(3-28-05 WSJ.)