Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Bipartisan Baseball Blather

Congressman John Yarmuth and his Democratic colleagues on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform have wasted a lot of taxpayer money investigating the "he said, he said" dispute between Roger Clemens and his alleged steroids and human growth hormone injector, Brian McNamee. The grandstanding (and it wasn't in a ballpark) has thus far produced an "18-page memo compiled by majority staff and released by chairman Rep. Henry Waxman, a California Democrat, on Feb. 27," according to the Associated Press.

Now the AP reports that Republican committee members have joined in the tree killing, with a "109-page report" that purportedly "'seeks to dispel conclusions that may have resulted from an incomplete consideration of the full record' and contains details Rep. Tom Davis believes could challenge the credibility of McNamee."

Who cares? The House committee shouldn't have conducted the hearings in the first place. Both Clemens and McNamee ought to be able to raise the defense of "irrelevant to the work of Congress" if either of them is ever prosecuted for alleged misstatements in their testimony.

Congressman Davis has opted not to run for reelection this year. Too bad Yarmuth will not do the same. Anne Northup should promise that, once she defeats Yarmuth, she will not participate in similar silly games that masquerade as congressional work.

Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.

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