Moral relativism

DeLay, Gingrich and what the meaning of "is" is.

Published May 30, 2007 1:54PM (EDT)

So it turns out that it really does "depend on what the meaning of the word 'is' is":

The New Yorker's Jeffrey Goldberg, reading Tom DeLay's book so we don't have to, finds the Hammer criticizing Newt Gingrich for carrying on an affair with a Capitol Hill employee in the midst of Bill Clinton's impeachment trial. "I don't think that Newt could set a high moral standard, a high moral tone, during that moment," DeLay says. "You can't do that if you're keeping secrets about your own adulterous affairs."

But wait, didn't DeLay himself engage in an adulterous affair? Well, yes, he did, but he says that was different because he wasn't still having the affair by the time the impeachment proceedings rolled around.

"There's a big difference," DeLay says. "Also," he adds, "I had returned to Christ and repented my sins by that time."


By Tim Grieve

Tim Grieve is a senior writer and the author of Salon's War Room blog.

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Bill Clinton Newt Gingrich Tom Delay War Room