"You can't entirely blame Tom DeLay for being annoyed and feeling abused. He is trapped in a Washington kabuki drama not of his own devising.

Two government investigations are looking into DeLay's relationship with a bunch of Indians he undoubtedly knew hardly at all and cared about even less. One of these investigations is asking whether he ripped off these Indians. The other is asking whether the same transactions amount to his Indians' buying improper influence in a dispute with some other Indians. So they can't even decide whether these Indians are the good guys or the bad guys (DeLay may be thinking), but Tom DeLay is the bad guy no matter what.

Did the Indians spend $82 million, and did they contribute to Republican candidates and causes that are as alien to them as they themselves are to their Republican beneficiaries, in any attempt to influence government decisions? No, not at all: The Coushatta Indians of Louisiana simply felt very strongly that the Senate majority leader needed to see Moscow firsthand and play a little golf while he was at it."

Get the Story:
Michael Kinsley: Influence, and Irony, for Sale (The Washington Post 4/24)
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