WELDON BERGER at Betty the Crow notes Tom DeLay's continuing "efforts to disenfranchise the judiciary as a coequal branch of government with a rant to the faithful at the Judeo-Christian Council for Constitutional Restoration." Killing two birds with one stone, DeLay delivered his remarks via videotape as he flew off to Rome for the pope's funeral. I wonder if DeLay is aware of the irony of his attempt to position himself as one of John Paul's admirers while at the same time condemning the judiciary in the United States for "following the dictates of foreign opinion" -- a veiled reference to the recent Supreme Court decision striking down the death penalty for juveniles. The United States government's continuing support for the death penalty is viewed with revulsion in Europe, and the late pope strongly opposed the death penalty on religious grounds.