LAW & ORDER'S Anti-DeLay Crusade

NBC was not the least bit apologetic about their anti-DeLay political sniping.

In DeLay's letter to NBC Universal Television Group President Jeff Zucker, he said: "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."

DeLay cited this as a "slur," intended to take a swipe at him for his comments regarding "the need for Congress to closely monitor the federal judiciary."

The President of NBC Entertainment, Kevin Reilly, responded by claiming that the controversial dialogue "was neither a political comment nor an accusation."

According to Reilly, "The script line involved an exasperated detective bedeviled by a lack of clues, making a sarcastic comment about the futility of looking for a suspect when no specific description existed."

Reilly said, "It's not unusual for 'Law & Order' to mention real names in its fictional stories. We're confident in our viewers' ability to distinguish between the two."

Dick Wolf, creator of the various Law & Order shows, didn't only address the questionable dialogue, he took the opportunity to ratchet up the situation by saying:

"Up until today, it was my impression that all of our viewers understood that these shows are works of fiction, as is stated in each episode. But I do congratulate Congressman DeLay for switching the spotlight from his own problems to an episode of a TV show."

Well, Wolf certainly sounds snippy, doesn't he?

If there was any doubt that the slur wasn't inteneded to harm DeLay, that it was "not unusual for 'Law & Order' to mention real names in its fictional stories," Wolf eliminates it.