Tom DeLay Dodges Another Bullet

This is what passes for good news in the DeLay camp these days:

DeLay's former deputy chief of staff, Tony Rudy, 39, did not implicate him in any wrongdoing when he pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy in the case involving convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Add this to the other good news that Jack Abramoff himself appears unlikely to implicate DeLay in his plea bargain, and Michael Scanlon, Abramoff's lobbying partner-in-crime, didn't name him either. Of course, Rudy did implicate DeLay's chief of staff, Ed Buckman, in the congressional bribery scandal. Buckman was DeLay's closest aide and spiritual adviser. But just because this admission takes the scandal into DeLay's inner circle, don't go jumping to conclusions. DeLay was completely clueless and you'd better believe it hurts to know that the people he trusted so well were capable of such duplicity.

All this good news probably made him want to get up and do the Snoopy dance. But some people just can't catch a break. It seems the Hollywood libruls made a movie star of the Hammer, and he's upset they didn't portray him in the best light. Mark Birnbaum and Jim Schermbeck are releasing The Big Buy: How Tom DeLay Stole Congress, a movie about DeLay's recent, er, troubles with Ronnie Earle. As DeLay describes it:

“The same day I secured the Republican nomination to continue serving you and the good people of the 22nd District, my Democrat opponent Nick Lampson’s liberal Hollywood buddies gave me a “welcome” gift. They officially released a documentary about Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle’s partisan witch-hunt.”

But the documentarians have a different take:

Mark and me, Hollywood Liberals? I live in rural West Texas. I drive a ten-year old Civic. I just voted in the Republican primary. My family and I paint the town red by going to one of many chain restaurants in Lubbock. Mark is a grandfather who lives with his cat in a 30-year old middle-class home in North Dallas built by a Texas Instruments engineer.

Well, for those of you who've never been, Lubbock does have it's own special charm. Still, pity poor Tom. Everytime he dodges another bullet, somebody else has him in their sites. No wonder he wants his gun back.