House Majority Leader Indicted!

I don't usually have the time or availability to make this a breaking news blog, but this one is kind of important. After much speculation for a long time, more active rumors yesterday, and great gobs of hope on the part of Dems everywhere, a Texas grand jury has indicted Tom DeLay. In an even bigger surprise--to me, anyway--he's announced that he's stepping down from his position in the Republican House leadership. I thought they'd have to take him kicking and screaming (although, I guess we don't know for sure that they didn't). Sure, Republican party rules state that officials under indictment can't serve in the leadership, but they've bent such rules before and I fully expected them to bend them again (although, again, there's still time and opportunity for them to do that). I think we'll get more than our share of reminders that in this country the accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty. And whatever agenda those making that point are pushing, we should remember that detail is not only correct, it's one of the strengths of our system. We're still in the earliest days of this story, and there's a long way to go before we find out how it will all end up. But it's probably not inappropriate to open a bottle of champagne if you're so moved.