When spin goes bad...

Liberal bloggers are getting a kick out of the administration's attempt to distance itself from the Tom Delay scandals.

Even before DeLay's announcement that he would abdicate his leadership post, top Bush advisers tell TIME, the President's inner circle always treated DeLay as a necessary burden. He may have had an unmatched grip on the House and Washington lobbyists, but DeLay is not the kind of guy—in background and temperament—the President feels comfortable with. Of the former exterminator, a Republican close to the President's inner circle says, "They have always seen him as beneath them, more blue collar. He's seen as a useful servant, not someone you would want to vacation with."

The joke is that 1: this doesn't make the Pres look any better, 2: stabs Delay in the back pretty hard, and 3: is fairly insulting to the blue-collar types who voted for the Pres, but aren't slimy like Delay. Bad spin. To be fair though, those spin-docs pricked the best analogy on their list. Here's a few other choies:

They have always seen him as beneath them...Like the chick you'll hook up with at a frat party, but kick out of bed the next morning...Like a gay child who you tell not to hug you while campaigning...Like that imigrant housekeeper you'll buy drugs from, but not pay over minimum wage... See? Their spin sounds better than mine...that's why they get paid the big bucks.

And then there's my personal favorite: Like the intern you'll finger with a cigar, and later explain that you only did it because you could. Ouch.