Jail Break

All right, he's not in jail yet, but that doesn't stop Steve Inskeep helping Tom Delay rehabilitate his less than savory image. Interviewing Delay, Inskeep comes off as a dithering Dr. Phil, asking questions such as "Do you think it affected you in some way that you did not have a more stable family life?" and "Did you learn anything coming from a dysfunctional family that proved to be useful when you became part of what some would call a dysfunctional family in Congress?"

Delay's answers to these pop psychology questions are real winners: "I think it made me a better person" and "to rely on others…to reach out…" respectively. Let's just say "better person" and "reaching out" are relative terms.

Throughout the interview Inskeep seemed dismally unprepared. Why weren't some of Delay's mean-spirited statements brought up as they are by Johathan Alter of Newsweek who notes "This is a man who calls the Environmental Protection Agency 'the Gestapo of government' and favors repealing the Clean Air Act because 'it's never been proven that air toxins are hazardous to people'; who insists repeatedly that judges on the other side of issues 'need to be intimidated' and rejects the idea of a separation of church and state."

Inskeep also could have explained the complicated indictments that Delay is under instead of allowing Delay to frame it as a personal, partisan campaign (He is accused of serious violations of Texas law after all.)

Perhaps the most disgraceful aspect of this interview came in this interchange:

Inskeep: "You seem to have made a career out of jobs that a lot of people would consider dirty or unpleasant jobs--"
Delay (interrupting): "Like what?"
Inskeep: "Lot of people don’t like to count votes."
Delay(laughing): "I love counting votes..."

Yes he does--unless, as John Nichols pointed out in the Nation, it's legitimate votes that might elect a President that people actually voted for. Yes, that little mob action paid off in spades, but Inskeep, asleep at the wheel as usual, can only follow up with, "Do you miss it?"