[GOP Corruption]

Tom DeLay at War.

"Our faith has always been in direct conflict with the values of the world."
--DeLay, speaking at the "War on Christians and the Values Voter in 2006"conference, Tuesday

Tony Rudy, Tom DeLay's former deputy chief of staff, plead guilty to conspiracy in connection to the lobbying fraud case that nabbed Jack Abramoff. These charges, stemming from the period when Rudy was working for DeLay, unambiguously link the majority leader's staff to corruption:

Rudy, 39, stood with his head slightly bowed and his hands clasped in front of him as the judge detailed how he took free trips, tickets, meals and golf games from Abramoff while working for DeLay, who was then House Majority Leader.

Apparently the charges don't link DeLay directly to the corruption, but most semi-modest men would confess to--at the very least--lax oversight when members of their staff start pleading guilty to graft (Rudy's the second). But DeLay? Earlier this week, he not only didn't offer any explanations, he declared himself a victim of the war on Christianity:

"But in a sense, there always has been and always will be [a war on Christianity]. Our faith has always been in direct conflict with the values of the world. We are, after all, a society that provides abortion on demand, has killed millions of innocent children, degrades the institution of marriage and all but treats Christianity like some second-rate superstition."

"we have been chosen to live as Christians at a time when our culture is being poisoned. ... God made us specifically for it. ... Jesus Christ himself made us just so that we could live in this nation at this time."

I know that a large number of Christians will recoil how this man exploits the language of religion to dress up his own obvious subversion of it, and yet few have called him on it. My assumption is that DeLay will ultimately spend time in the hole--either due to a guilty plea or following a trial. But even if he doesn't, his corruption is undeniable, even to his own supporters. I have made too many bad predictions in my blogging career to say that this spells doom for the GOP/Christian connection, so I will hold off. Instead, let me just observe the delicacy with which Machiavelian Republicans, hoping to continue to exploit Christians' sense of morality, must handle Tom DeLay, as he stands both for the party and God.