Doolittle's Hammermania

With Tom DeLay's dramatic exit from Congress, I've been thinking about those little golden hammer lapel pins. They might be worth something. Maybe ol' Hot Tub Tom could sell off a couple on EBay to go toward his legal defense fund.

Excerpted from Roll Call this past October in much more confident times:

In a show of solidarity with the one and only Hammer, many GOP Members donned little gold hammer lapel pins and began hammering away at each other on the House floor. Fine, the last part didn't actually happen, but they did wear their pins to the floor for votes to show some love for Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas).

Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) is responsible for hammermania. He bought more than 100 of the lapel pins and handed them out. "Tom DeLay is an outstanding man and a great Republican leader," he told HOH. "By wearing this pin we wish to demonstrate our unified support of Mr. DeLay and the high esteem in which we hold him."

The Hammer apparently loved the gesture. "I'm sure they will result in a reservoir of good luck for Mr. DeLay, but we won't need luck since the facts and the laws are on Mr. DeLay's side," DeLay's spokesman, Kevin Madden, said.