Meanwhile, over in the House...

...the first order of business was to tweak the rules of the House Ethics Committee specifically to cover Tom DeLay's, er, flank. I also have an UpWord suggestion for the House. Those who tinker with the rules are always suspect, and those who tinker with the Ethics rules doubly so. Just to be sure that any ethics rules changes are sound ideas with noble motivations, I propose:

House Ethics Rule: The House Ethics Rules (including the procedural rules of the Ethics Committee) may only be modified when the same proposal is ratified by a 2/3 majority in 3 successive sessions of Congress, and the rule shall only take effect in the 4th session after it is initially proposed.

That seems a bit harsh. It would take 8 years for any change to be accomplished. But better to have honest improvements come later than not at all. The benefit is that tampering to suit current self-interests (or avoid imminent scandals) will be prevented. Sometimes it's good not to be able to act quickly. Any true conservative should agree.