60 Minutes on The Hammer (and Kay)

Not a lot new on the 60 Minutes profile of Ronnie Earle and Tom DeLay. But one thing that jumped out at me from all of this ... Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Kay's earned the reputation of being unbeatable here in Texas, but allow me to point out one line of attack based on her own track record with Ronnie Earle. The early 90s investigation of her tenure as State Treasurer is often cited by DeLay apologists as "proof" of Ronnie Earle's partisanship. So, how is it that a so-called middle-of-the-road Republican has become the biggest PR enabler of the most crooked politician in the United States?

Let's call this the Tom DeLay rule ... one I often use with GOP friends in the 22nd. Anytime one of them demands to be viewed as a moderate or middle-of-the-road Republican/conservative, my question invariably is this: Who did you vote for in the Congressional race? If the answer is Tom DeLay, then sorry ... you're at the far reaches of ideology. Even moreso after 2004, when you had not just a Democrat on the ballot, but another Republican running as an independent.

In the case of Kay, she seems awfully silent when her case is used as a pretense for enabling Tom DeLay's "hammer"ing of Ronnie Earle's office. Has anyone seen a quote where she expresses any ire over being put in the same context as Tom DeLay? Same rule applies here. All it would take is either a public comment that each investigation is separate and unique (she could even go so far as to proclaim agnosticism in regards to the TRMPAC case) ... or a private phone call to the bugman and his apologists to say "Knock it off" in regards to using her name. But no ... nothing of the sort has ever happened like that.

Of course, fellow Texas congressman John Carter filled in for Tom DeLay on 60 Minutes to defend the bugman's name. Just add his name to John Culberson's, who took the time to call into a radio show to argue that Tom DeLay is ethical and honest.

Birds of a feather, and all that ....