The Democrats must be laughing themselves to sleep every night lately as they watch the reputations of prominent Republicans all around them implode.

Some, like Karl Rove (Plame-gate), have no smoking gun or even real likelihood of their having done anything wrong, but the media does them in anyway in the absence of a credible defense.

But that's small potatoes compared to today's indictment of Tom DeLay and the SEC's upgrading their inquiry of Bill Frist's sale of HCA stock just before a price fall to a "formal investigation".

My guess is that neither DeLay nor Frist will end up in serious legal trouble (though DeLay probably has more risk than Frist). But as a wise friend of mine (who is a former Congressman) says, "If you're explaining, you're losing."

So, the Republican leaders of both the House and the Senate are now under substantial ethical and legal clouds. And it must not be overlooked how powerful a fundraiser these guys are, especially Tom DeLay.

We also had the spectacle of George Bush saying "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job" just a few days before the same Michael Brown takes a severe beating in Congress and the media about the many failures of FEMA under his leadership...not to mention the serious questions about how he got the job to begin with.

The Republicans better get their act together in the Gulf Coast as well as hope for a bit of luck from Iraq and the economy before the Congressional elections in 14 months. It's silly to predict such things, but I am not opimistic on either of those fronts (I am particularly wary of the real estate market and political effects if it weakens substantially.) On the other hand, the system is so rigged in support of incumbents that the Democrats probably won't be able to make as much headway as they might in a "fairer" system, i.e. one with less gerrymandering and the incredible fundraising advantage of those who have already been able to do favors for interest groups.