Babbling 'Berto's Big Day

For all the tough talk out of Arlen Specter, these hearings are shaping up to be a joke. Out of the gate, the GOPers on the committee close ranks to block an effort to have Gonzales give his testimony under oath. When Feingold presses on it, Snarlin' Arlen declares that, "This is really not a very good way to begin this hearing."

No shit.

What part is less good, the fact that the witness is an apparent perjurer or the fact that wanting such a man sworn in is treated as a nuisance? Not surprsingly, the "not good" continued when Gonzo was pressed on exactly what sort of harm Porter Goss and Dick Cheney were stridently--and vaguely--bleating about coming from this investigation.

Gonzales: "I think, based on my experience, it is true -- you would assume that the enemy is presuming that we are engaged in some kind of surveillance.

But if they're not reminded about it all the time in the newspapers and in stories, they sometimes forget."

They forget? Well then, I guess that means if El Presidente would only stop using terrorism and 9/11 as a club on EVERY policy initiative he has, there'd be even more careless slip-ups we could capitalize on, wouldn't there? Might just have to look into that one.

And from the stupefying to the stupid:

Gonzales: "President Washington, President Lincoln, President Wilson, President Roosevelt have all authorized electronic surveillance on a far broader scale."

Word has it that Abe even engaged in a tricky bit of psychological warfare, orchestrating a Google-bombing campaign that caused gay porn to pop up as the number one hit everytime someone searched "Jefferson Davis" or "Robert E. Lee."