Christy at Fire Dog Lake will be live-blogging the whole thing today, but I just wanted to note two things I heard during the opening statement of the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, Lamar Smith of Texas. First, he was channeling Elliot Abrams when he spouted off about "the criminalization of political disagreements"; second, he waved the bloody shirts of terrorist victims to minimize the damage done to the federal judiciary.
Elliot Abrams, who was convicted in the Iran-Contra scandal on multiple counts of lying to Congress, and was pardoned I believe by the first President Bush just before he left office, was infamous for stating his objection to the entire Iran-Contra oversight process as political manouvering on the part of Democrats. Alas and alack, he still went to prison because he broke the law; apparently he forgot that we are a nation of laws, even if he doesn't like some of them. This particular bit of Republican idiocy has become so farcical, so obscene, and now we are hearing it again. Please.
As for the bloody shirt . . . You know, why don't we just set aside all laws, all serious matters, and hunker down in fear of some coming apocalyptic showdown with The Terrorists. Let's all just let the Bush Administration do whatever they want because, as we all know, they are protecting us by letting The Terrorists kill us Over There rather than Over Here (except in New Jersey, here in Illinois, and who knows where else). This is so tired, so played, so . . . just downright stupid. Sighing in resignation in the face of such farcical nonsense is all we have left. That and pointing it out how stupid it is. Can we get on with the serious business of doing oversight now that the Republican talking-points are out of the way?
Again, consult FDL for various fun-filled moments throughout the day.
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