Dear Mr. Zucker

The text of Tom DeLay's letter to NBC:

May 26, 2005

Jeff Zucker
President
NBC Universal Television Group
30 Rockefeller Plaza New York, NY 10012

Dear Mr. Zucker,

It was with grave concern I learned this morning of the disturbing misuse of my name on last night's episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

In the episode, a police officer investigating the murder of a federal judge suggested "put[ting] out an APB for somebody in a Tom DeLay t-shirt."

This manipulation of my name and trivialization of the sensitive issue of judicial security represents a reckless disregard for the suffering initiated by recent tragedies and a great disservice to public discourse.

I can only assume last night's slur was in response to comments I have made in the past about the need for Congress to closely monitor the federal judiciary, as prescribed in our constitutional system of checks and balances.

I have explained all such comments - even those inartfully made and taken out of context - on numerous occasions, including with representatives of your network.

When a responsible journalist like Brit Hume made an inquiry into such comments, he quickly understood them to be limited to Congress's oversight responsibilities and nothing more.

American judges and law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every day to protect our streets, our citizens, and our way of life.

To equate legitimate constitutional inquiry into the role of our courts with a threat of violence against our judges is to equate the First Amendment with terrorism.

Our constitution created and our people have a right to an independent judiciary, but millions of Americans in recent decades have grown concerned about the expansion of judicial independence into judicial supremacy.

To compare such concerns, which, again, are shared by millions of Americans, to a violent crime is a reckless trivialization of a serious public issue.

Last night's brazen lack of judgment represents a failure of stewardship of our public airwaves and as much evidence as anyone needs for the embarrassing state of the mainstream media's credibility.

Sincerely,


Tom DeLay
_______________________________

I think DeLay is completely justified in being ticked off with NBC.

President of NBC Entertainment Kevin Reilly and Dick Wolf, creator of the various Law & Order incarnations, showed no remorse whatsoever for what I believe was, in DeLay's words, a "brazen lack of judgment."

That lack of remorse sets NBC's anti-DeLay, anti-Bush, anti-Republican, anti-conservative agenda in cement.