House Majority leader Tom DeLay is holding a major fundraiser for Celebration for Children, Inc., an organization that helps abused and neglected children. He's holding it during the Republican convention, and whoever makes a nice big fat donation gets to schmooze with Tom. We have to make sure we have this straight: Al Gore can go to a Buddhist temple where there is some fund-raising going on, and DeLay's people call for a special prosecutor, but DeLay can sell his influence for help-the-children tickets, and that makes him a humanitarian. Are we in the rabbit hole yet?

DeLay and his wife are foster parents. (It is really creepy to think about the spectacularly vicious and hypocritical DeLay fostering a child, but that is another issue.) DeLay says that his organization can provide services for children that they can't get from the government, and that is all well and good. DeLay has consistently voted for programs that aid foster children, and he has often voted for other programs that assist children. There is no reason to believe that his organization will not provide important services.

But if DeLay really cares that much about raising money for the children, why muddy up the effort by mixing it with convention politics? DeLay is already a target of an investigation into whether corporate money linked to him improperly financed the Republican party's recent takeover of the Texas capitol. It's enough to make you think he believes he's above the law.

Tom Delay?! No...