Bitterness Instead of Understanding

'No Retreat, No Surrender: One Man's Fight.' If only this were the title of a civil rights leader's memoir. But no civil rights leader would talk about 'one' man's fight; it was a group effort. Only someone who falsely sees himself as walking into a sunset alone after a gunfight would use that subtitle for his memoir.

The memoir is Tom DeLay's. It is a title chosen by someone who sees himself as an unrepentant victim.

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This man who abused his office as much as any recent politician is abusing it once again, with the help of Penguin's conservative imprint, Sentinel. He is making it acceptable (or, at least, trying to make it acceptable) for government officials to do what they too often do: blame those who point out their unethical conduct, justifying rather than taking responsibility for their actions.

It is not retreat to admit one's mistakes. It's an act of courage. It is not surrender to resign when one's misconduct becomes public. It shows respect for democratic values.

I'm sure there is an interesting back story to Mr. DeLay's misconduct. I'm sure that he, like everyone who succeeds in politics or any profession, overcame many obstacles. But he became an obstacle himself, a bully, and no amount of overcoming obstacles justifies that.

No doubt he is angry and feels betrayed. But others in his position have used the writing of a memoir as an occasion to understand and to provide guidance to others, rather than to feed the anger and sense of betrayal and ideological feelings of others, making it more likely that they will admire him and turn out like him.

It is sad that, apparently, Mr. DeLay has not been able to rise out of his mire and look at his life using ethical reasoning instead of bitterness.