The Terri Schiavo tragedy brought out the worst in a lot of people, but no one in public life sank lower than House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, whose brazen threats of retribution against judges dishonored the Constitution he is sworn to uphold.
"The time will come," DeLay warned, "for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior."
DeLay may not have intended his threat to recall the recent murder of a judge in an Atlanta courtroom or the killing of U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow's husband and mother in February. But neither did he care a bit about the violence his remarks did to the separation of powers that is central to the success of American government.
Remember what prompted this disgraceful attempt at intimidation from a national Republican leader: The federal courts did what Congress unwisely asked in reviewing the Florida courts' decisions in the Schiavo case; they simply failed to rubber-stamp the right-to-life agenda in their rulings.
Hear, hear! Read the rest of this excellent editorial from The Register-Guard of Eugene, Oregon. (via How Appealing)