The USA Today published an op-ed this morning by Sandy Grady entitled “Grounded by Hubris, Greed.” In it, Grady basically wrote Tom DeLay’s (R-Tex) career totally off, while making it clear for the reader that a trial at this point is just a formality:

“Indicted on charges of conspiracy and funneling $190,000 in illegal corporate dough so Republicans could dominate the Texas Legislature, he has lost his clout, his ornate office and those free golf junkets — probably forever.”

“For anyone who's hung around Washington a few years, the DeLay tumble is a Groundhog Day tale that keeps endlessly repeating. Over and over, the heavy hitters of Congress get puffed with arrogance, overreach for power, stir up their enemies and crash in disgrace. Call it ‘The Curse of the House.’"

Grady went on to compare DeLay’s behavior and predicament to other Congressional leaders of the past who have fallen from grace such as Jim Wright (D-Tex) and Dan Rostenkowski (D-Ill). Yet, nowhere did Grady state that many in the legal community believe that these charges are trumped up, and will be difficult to result in a conviction.

Maybe more important, Grady is clearly forgetting that in America, the accused is innocent until proven guilty. This seems to be a common source of confusion for the media these days.

Of course, now that an arrest warrant has been issued for DeLay as reported by the Associated Press just minutes ago, it is safe to assume this confusion will be even more pervasive in the days to come.

—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters.