In today's Boston Globe, Susan Milligan writes up Tom DeLay's leading role on legislation that would relieve the MTBE ( methyl tertiary butyl ether) industry of almost all liability in the clean-up of contaminated water supplies in New England.

...his constituents in TX-22 are raising their voices:

May 12, 2005

Representative Tom DeLay
242 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Rep. DeLay,

As constituents of yours in the 22nd Congressional District of Texas, we write to share our on-going frustration with your out-of-touch service in Congress.

May 2005
Dogged by scandal for his unethical behavior, Tom DeLay is “saluted” at the Capital Hilton at a gala sponsored by the American Conservative Union. More than 100 of DeLay’s constituents respond by sending him a letter critical of his decision to celebrate while he neglects the needs of people in his district.

May 2004

Anne Kornblut of the New York Times has a piece leading off the "Week In Review" section today, complete with a huge picture of a smiling Tom DeLay with hand outstretched, that answers the question, Why are Republicans standing by their man?

Her answers are found here (emphasis added):

The Times-Recorder in Zanesville, Ohio picked up our press conference/protest of Rep. Bob Ney and his involvement in a shady purchase of a casino business in Florida by one of his donors. Ney still hasn't answered our questions.

Here's a long excerpt:

Laughing all the way to the bank.

From the Associated Press:

Two Republican members of the House ethics committee will not participate in any investigation of Majority Leader Tom DeLay because they contributed to DeLay's legal defense chairman, the ethics panel chairman said Wednesday.

From the Hill:

Reps. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.) and John Sweeney (R-N.Y.) have been meeting with 30 House Republicans over the past few weeks to coordinate a more aggressive strategy to defend Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), according to a Republican source familiar with the meetings.

...from Houston Chronicle's Gebe Martinez. She ends the piece with an interesting little twist for the TX-22 crowd:

Lawmakers were split between those who are loyal to DeLay and did not want to be seen as caving in to Democrats, and others who were concerned that Republicans were seen as unwilling to police themselves.

DeLay acknowledged "that is the hottest topic in my district."

There's a lot of news coverage on the ethics rules reversal by Hastert and DeLay, but a couple of stories caught my eye this morning.