What does it take for Chris Matthews and Hardball to marginalize convicted criminal Tom Delay and not offer him time to lamely proclaim his innocence? My god, he actually served up a softball in the form of asking if Delay thought there was a conspiracy that resulted in his conviction. And showing himself to be the arrogant yet poor thinker that he is, Delay eagerly grabs the notion of his conviction being politically motivated and runs with it. The only problem, he admits that there was nothing wrong with the jury that convicted him. Then Tweety suggests that maybe Delay shouldn't have hung out with those miscreants Michael Scanlon and Jack Abramoff, because hanging out with these convicted criminals looked bad for Tom. Um, Tweety? Any awareness at all that maybe the reason Tom Delay looks bad is because he committed crimes along with Abramoff?

I've said for years now that Chris Matthews' deep love of politics is not connected to any sense of moral compass. It doesn't matter if you're on the side of angels for Tweety, it's all about how you play the game. As Jon Stewart aptly pointed out, that playbook has been written already, and it's still the one that Matthews sticks to.