I have never really been able to figure out if Tom DeLay is truly delusional or just your typical sociopathic Republican liar. After today's Hardball, I am convinced he is a little of both.
Matthews' interview with DeLay (about his new book) was lengthy enough to provide the Hammer with plenty of opportunities to make bizarre assertions. Among these, an interesting interpretation of the executive-privilege process, as well as an admission of past criminal behavior. Read on for details.
For starters, DeLay posited a rather unique notion of how claims of executive privilege are resolved: the Decider decides. Yes, that's right. If Congress issues subpoenas to the executive branch, the President (or this President anyway) can simply decide to ignore them and that's that. No courts. No nothing. According to DeLay, President Bush is the final authority. Nice. I'll put this one in the lying category.
Then we move on to DeLay's sordid past. In his new book, DeLay apparently details his years of alcoholism and infidelity before he was saved by a James Dobson video tape (how special). The former bug killer actually admitted today that he would sometimes drink up to twelve martinis and then drive home. In other words, DeLay admitted that he committed multiple DUI/DWIs while serving as a member of Congress.
I'll skip right over his mangling of current GOP talking points ("Clinton fired 20 or 30 US Attorneys") and get right to the point when even Chris Matthews became amazed at DeLay's mendacity. Matthews grilled DeLay about passages in his book where he apparently ripped into fellow corrupt Texan Dick Armey, eventually asking the Hammer about describing Armey as "drunk with ambition." DeLay denied writing that. "I wrote that he was 'blinded by his ambition.'" Matthews starts flipping though the book and finds the "drunk with ambition" quote and reads it to Bug Man. And DeLay keeps denying it. Finally, Chris hands the book to Tom and tells him to read it himself. DeLay looks down, pauses, and says "I don't have my glasses." What a clown. That's beyond lying. It's delusional.
There's much more. Unfortunately I don't have a transcript or video yet, but will post both when available.
One more thing. I've always wondered: is Tom Dale DeLay the basis for fellow Texas exterminator (and fellow zany FOX character) Dale Gribble?? Can there really be more than one paranoid, delusional, gun-loving Texas exterminator named Dale? Uh, never mind.
**UPDATE #1**
Thanks to kovie, the Armey portion of the interview is up on youtube:
***UPDATE #2***
MSNBC now has video of the entire interview. (Thanks gcdem!)