Hypocrisy.

Editor,
Two principles must not be confused.

The first is that hypocrites like Tom Delay, George Bush, Bill Frist, who wrap themselves in their own professed moral rectitude and cruelly impugn the character of others, ultimately become so brazen that their lies and their crimes become obvious even to the docile and complacent American public, and they fall.

The other is summed up by a Yiddish expression: "Man plans, God laughs," meaning that the best-laid plans of mice and men are bound to go awry -- that living carefully and kindly does not prevent one's being hurt by the inevitable, random, painful events life brings. This is why self-preservation and self-advancement are the wrong reasons to care about one's fellow man.

Criminals of Delay's ilk are usually vociferous Christians, because Christian dogma -- that "Jesus died so your sins would be forgiven" -- is easily translated by the psychopathic mind into: "Believing in Jesus is easier than obeying the law and will get me into Heaven no matter what laws I break."

This reasoning is similar to the principle that believing in the Bible is easier than using one's God-given intelligence to do the work of painstakingly unraveling how the world around us works. Adhering loudly and stubbornly to warped religious dicta also serve the criminal mind by justifying one's prejudices, as well as justifying one's being greedy, ignorant, and cruel.