Gawd-fucking help us all.
But...before I down a bottle of wine and start screaming obscenities at the tv screen, I read this OpEd from Richard Eskow. Not only did it make me smirk and then giggle, Eskow's pov made sense to me. Just a blurb:
What's the worst thing about Darrell Issa's debut as Chairman of the House Oversight Committee? It could be his relentless, Gloria Swansonish, "I'm ready for my close up, Mr. DeMille" self promotion. It might be his manic insistence that he'll conduct "hundreds" of investigations,or his letters to lobbyists offering to put his new powers at their disposal. Or maybe it's his "hang 'em first and try 'em later" attitude toward the Administration. It's certainly ironic that his first act as head of the committee that investigates misuse of government funds seems to have been ... to misuse government funds.
Sure, they're all bad. But the worst of all may be this: Issa's making it clear that he'll use his position to cover up Wall Street's role in destroying the economy, and that he'll resist any attempts to rein in the corporate misbehavior that puts us all at risk. That's a shame: Issa once seemed like a fair-minded, independent voice, and he could have made an important contribution in his new position. Instead he's bent on becoming a tinpot Torquemada bent on harrassing and punishing anyone who tries to thwart corporate America's will.
Issa's announced that he intends to investigate Wikileaks, Fannie Mae, Afghanistan, how regulation affects job creation, food and drug recalls, what the last episode of Lost really meant, and whether Yoko broke up the Beatles.
*snip*
Nobody can investigate hundreds of topics meaningfully or effectively. But that's not the point. The goal of these investigations will be to help his party and serve his corporate cronies - and, of course, to get his name in the headlines. In fact, Darrell's already gone Hollywood. Videos on his website already have a Committee logo, as if he were a movie star and the mogul who runs the studio:
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| Graphic courtesy of OurFuture.org |
The Rethug brand is all over the oversight.gov website. When the Dem's were in control, they didn't politicize the government website. The Rethugs are about winning and at any cost, so they didn't miss the opportunity to use a taxpayer paid site for partisan gain and advertisement space about how great the GOP is and how it's going to save Amerika.. ...yeah, right, fuck those lying, obfuscating bastards.
Anyway, read the writeup if you haven't already. I worry that I am obsessing about this California Fuckwad. I am familiar with him and his district, being a native San Diegan.
The only question really is this: How much damage, if any, will this jackass do? Bush43 wasn't near as savvy and intelligent as ole Darrell, and look what he was able to accomplish.
