A lot of people talk about Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) being crooked or unethical. But considering the veritable lion’s den of corruption, self-dealing and criminal conduct his office turns out to have been, I think the truth may turn out to be that he was something more like a paragon of virtue. It’s just hard to figure out how else he could have worked day in and day out with so many of his key staffers and lieutenants being confessed felons without DeLay ever having gone over to the dark side, as his lawyers suggest.
As DeLay’s lawyer Richard Cullen told a conference call of reporters today, “Tom DeLay was [not] aware of the wrongs that Mr. Rudy was committing. As long as people are telling the truth, Mr. DeLay has no fear about this investigation.”
So run down the list.
Key DeLay-wired lobbyist Jack Abramoff — convicted felon.
Michael Scanlon, former DeLay aide and spokesman — convicted felon.
Tony Rudy, former DeLay deputy chief of staff — convicted felon.
Ed Buckham, former DeLay Chief of Staff and pastor — implicated in Rudy’s plea, up front costs for lobby shop funded by Abramoff clients, helped funnel Russian oil-KGB money to DeLay, Inc.
Spokesman, Deputy Chief of Staff, Chief of Staff. A few aides here and a few aides there, and pretty soon you’ve got a whole org chart.
When you put it all in perspective and stop seeing through the distorted prism of the liberal media, you start to understand DeLay was a veritable Gandhi-with-the-virgins or the one good man in Sodom when it came to ethics.
