Please dont get me wrong,I did too.But while he was a breath of fresh air for us conservatives in 94,I feel he pushed things too far.But you're right he had the class to resign.The 'toon on the other hand,hung around to see if he'd be impeached.If I knew congress was debating my impeachment,shame and my conscience would have me sneaking out the back door under cover of darkness.I think Leahy is so antiSOMETHING that he's out of control.It was Newts orphanage comment that made me categorize him that way.I know now it was taken of context,but,Im sorry,it rubbed me the wrong way at the time.When his personal issues arose,I gave him a pass because I feel he bowed out gracefully.He does great with FOX now,so all is not lost.Just my opinion.
Ah, but you see, Leahy is fulfilling his role as a leader within the Democratic Party. The rank and file love his foolish rantings and futile polemics. Leahy probably thinks that if he can just raise his profile enough by becoming the Great Enemy of Bush, he can cruise to the Democratic nomination in 2004 or 2008. Of course that is now impossible - he is completely unelectable. But he doesn't realize that.
I think Newt's problem was his inability to discipline himself with regards to communication. He called himself a "revolutionary" which does not conjure up the sort of images that Americans like to associate with their leaders. The people would have let him accomplish a lot more if he had just sounded reasonable, calm, and humble to the public.
In the end, his problem was not that he did too much but that he did too little. He compromised with Clinton during the budget shutdown of 1995-1996, signed a horrible budget in 1998, and refused to discuss Clinton's crimes or impeachment during the 1998 campaign, which has to rank as one of the most stunning political miscalculations of recent history. Republicans lost 5 seats in an off-year election (!), and Gingrich resigned before he could be unseated.
That's my opinion. God bless.