DeLay and God’s Party

By Scott Horton

The New Yorker’s Jeffrey Goldberg has a fascinating portrait of Tom DeLay in its current issue in an article entitled “Party Unfaithful.” For those grappling with the current meltdown in the Republican Party, this piece is indispensable. Among many amazing passages, DeLay discussed his adultery and his decision to come to Jesus. And then we come to the Elmer Gantry moment when he makes clear that he has the perpetual endorsement of the Heavenly Father:

DeLay says that when, in the coming years, he is not fighting the indictment in Texas (he insists that he is not guilty) he will be building a conservative grass-roots equivalent of MoveOn.org. “God has spoken to me,” he said. “I listen to God, and what I’ve heard is that I’m supposed to devote myself to rebuilding the conservative base of the Republican Party, and I think we shouldn’t be underestimated.”

For the record, I am absolutely certain that god has spoken to Tom DeLay. I just question that it is the God of Abraham. Assuredly the gods who commission the sort of movement he is describing are of another nature. The god Baal,) for instance.