Once a respected liberal politician in our state, Congressman Jim McDermott has become an embarrassment whose time to retire has come.

The political reality of the 7th District is that a Republican has no chance. The entry into the race of conservative Steve Beren is a good sign in that he appears a much better candidate than the GOP nominee of the past few years. But he admitted to 34th District Republicans a couple of weeks ago that challenging Washington's "congressman for life" is a daunting task, but he says "There's no candidate I'd rather run against than Jim McDermott." Give the guy an "A" for guts, but we doubt he has a prayer.

Another reality is that Jim McDermott will never quit. He needs the job because he is locked in a decade-old court battle with the new House Majority Leader John Boehner. As all most likely already know, a federal appeals court ruled earlier this month that McDermott violated federal law when he gave to the New York Times a taped telephone call to reporters in 1996. A court has ordered McDermott to pay Boehner $700,000 for leaking the tape to reporters.

Now McDermott is seeking donations to a fund to pay for more appeals, and more likely to help pay the judgement. McDermott is not a rich man.

The real problem is that he once lied about giving the tape to the New York Times, then he spurned an offer by Boener to settle the case for a relatively small amount.

But the Congressman is trying to make a taudry action into a Constitutional issue. Hogwash.

We urge Democrats to ease Jim into retirement where he can spend all the time he wants raising money to pay a just court decision. Find quality Democrat to challenge him in the primary.

Say goodbye, Jim. Now!