Liberal Talk Radio

So I’m watching Keith Olbermann on MSNBC, and he’s interviewing a reporter from the Wall Street Journal whose name escapes me. They’re talking about Pres. Bush’s decision to cozy up to DeLay today, and how that differed from Bush’s reaction to Lott, which was to distance himself and basically engineer Lott’s downfall. Recall: Lott got in trouble for associating himself with Strom Thurmond’s racist past. DeLay is in trouble for (allegedly) taking illegal gifts from lobbyists.

The reporter says that there are two main differences: one, Bush needs DeLay to get a lot of stuff done in the House right now (Social Security reform, etc.), and two, Lott’s remarks brought up images of a racist Republican party that Bush was specifically trying to distance himself from.

So, to reiterate:

1. Bush is keeping DeLay around because he’s a loyal button man, whereas Lott was a prickly independent sort of fellow who didn’t like taking marching orders from Rove. Lott was replaced by Bill Frist, whose signature trait is loyalty, not competency (witness how he got outfoxed by the more senior Sen. Reid this week).

2. The Lott scandal brought up images of racism, which Bush rightfully didn’t want to be associated with. The DeLay scandal brings up images of the GOP sucking corporate schlong, which… well… Bush is apparently OK with.

Of course, the WSJ reporter never mentioned that last bit… and Olbermann never asked (Lazy MSM!). But that’s the implication.