Originally, I was going to award the Newsmaker Calvinball Play of the Week to those on the left-wing who are now ridiculing President Bush for making a few statements regarding conservation of gasoline, especially since one of the loudest complaints voiced against the administration-supported energy bill was that it had little in it to promote conservation. A fine example of Calvinball that is.

However, Representative Tom DeLay has gone over the top, and I stand in awe of his skill at Calvinball.

First, he accuses Travis County prosecutor Ronnie Earle of being partisan and vindictive. The Calvinball aspect of this move is obvious, as noted by Earle himself:

Being called partisan and vindictive by Tom DeLay is like being called ugly by a frog.
   -Ronnie Earle, Travis County district attorney

Next, there’s this little tidbit. DeLay claims “Never asking me to testify, never doing anything for two years.” However, his own lawyer points out DeLay’s Calvinball play:

Dick DeGuerin, the attorney representing DeLay, said Thursday that DeLay actually was invited to appear before the grand jury, where he would have been under oath.

Hmmm…

Like every politician, how can you tell when Representative DeLay is lying?

His lips are moving.

I can see how he would refuse to get under oath in front of a grand jury, because his head might explode from the pressure to be truthful.

Out-and-out lying about supposedly not being given an opportunity to go before the grand jury, though, and then being called on the lie by his own lawyer, well, that takes things to an entirely new level.

This is the epitome of Calvinball… where the rules you lay on your opponents don’t apply to yourself.

After this spectacular attempt at smearing someone as being “partisan and vindictive,” coming from a man whose photo should be in the dictionary next to these adjectives as an exemplar of these characteristics, along getting caught out in a lie by his own lawyer, how could anyone else be in contention for the Newsmaker Calvinball Play of the Week?

No one is allowed to question the masks.

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