DeLay: "I Am The Government"

The dinner was organized by [Ratboy Tom DeLay's] daughter and campaign manager, Danielle DeLay Ferro, as a fundraiser for Armpac, Delay's political action committee, at Ruth's Chris Steak House on Ninth Street NW. But because the restaurant leases space in a building owned by a federal agency -- in this case, the Smithsonian Institution -- the law forbids smoking. The prohibition is posted on numerous signs inside and outside the restaurant.

But after the main course, DeLay went into "hammer" mode, trying to compel manager Tom Khandker to flout federal regulations and lift the ban. We hear the conversation went something like this:

Khandker: "I'm sorry, sir, but this is a federal building, and it's against the law of the federal government."

DeLay: "I am the federal government."....

Yesterday, Khandker declined to comment, and DeLay spokesman Stuart Roy told us that what his boss really said was, "I'm with the federal government."

Now, of course that's a lie. Does DeLay expect anyone to believe that he actually was arguing that a ban on smoking in federal buildings does not apply to federal employees? That's pure bullshit.

Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security has already placed the wiretap and read all of Mr. Khandker's e-mail.