http://dispatch.thirdway.org/articles/2008/02/15/it-was-worse-than-i-thought en-us 40 <p>Yesterday, I posted on the Clemens food fight and wondered what got into the Republicans. Why did they behave like cheerleading baboons, and how could they have possibly read the evidence and concluded Clemens was au natural during his 4 Cy Young run in the “twilight of his career?” I surmised that perhaps that years of defending Alberto Gonzalez, WMDs, yellow cake in Niger, and Abu Ghraib had permanently distorted their ability discern truth from lies – even when the witness repeatedly used phrases like “misheard” and “misremembered” to explain away 60’ 6”-sized holes in his story.</p><p>Now we have an explanation and it’s even worse than I thought. Mark Souder, who is now my favorite Republican from Indiana, spilled the beans. In a moment of refreshing candor, he admitted that he and Tom Davis were the only GOPers to have read the sworn depositions. And then (slapping my forehead with my palm) I realized how stupid I was. If they’re not going to read the National Intelligence Estimate or the 9/11 Commission Report – something that could save or cost the lives of, oh, sentient life on planet earth, how could we expect them to do their homework in preparation for this 4 ½ hour, nationally televised clown-a-thon? Especially when there are no pictures. Well, we can’t can we?</p> <p>Lanny Breuer and Rusty Hardin had it figured out. Just visit the offices. Sign a couple of balls. Drop a few Bush bombs. Wave a few shiny objects to distract them. And – snap! – we’re mired in an unwinnable and unconscionable conflict in the Middle East … Ooops, I mean we let another 9-figure cheat off the hook.</p> <p>Shame on Brian McNamee’s lawyers for not preparing their witness. “Brian, realize that half of those buffoons have not read boo of the sworn testimony. And that cranky old feller over there – Burton – rumor says the last book he read began ‘I am Sam. Sam I am.’” Although, what good would it have done really? The fix was in.</p> <p>Well, it’s February 14th and pitchers and catchers are due to report. Hope springs eternal. Can’t say I feel too good about the Congress though.</p> Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:20:00 -0700 urn:uuid:fb424125-a962-40c8-8395-a804b8ca44a1 contact@thirdway.com (Jim Kessler, Vice President for Policy) http://dispatch.thirdway.org/articles/2008/02/15/it-was-worse-than-i-thought General Commentary http://dispatch.thirdway.org/articles/trackback/154