One reason I haven’t much felt like writing today is that I made the mistake of watching Lurita Doan’s testimony today before the House Oversight and Government Reform committee and then I piled on myself by watching Tony Snow’s press conference. By the time I was done I had incurred a not insubstantial amount of brain damage. And that made it difficult to focus my thoughts and put pen to paper.

At root, I was subjected to an almost parallel universe where people will not admit saying what they just said, not two weeks or months ago, but two seconds or minutes ago. I was even forced to listen to a grammar lesson on the hortatory subjunctive mood. I kind of wish that we could bring George Orwell back to life because I think he would feel quite vindicated. You can read Doan’s statement here (.pdf). Her testimony was worse. She refused to answer yes or no to even the most straightforward question and would grant no single point, no matter how self-evident. Of course, Tony Snow has taken this tactic to the level of an art form. Look below the fold.

MR. SNOW: Hello, everybody. Questions.

Q Senator Specter said he wants to negotiate with Fred Fielding
about these subpoenas. Is there any negotiating room for the White
House —

MR. SNOW: We’re going to review the subpoenas and we’ll respond
appropriately.

Q Your usual response to even the talk of subpoenas is just to
say flatly, no. Is there any room for any other —

MR. SNOW: Again, I’m just giving you — what I’m saying is that
we’ll respond appropriately. That’s what we say. One of the things
that you can say is that it does appear — we have made available to all
committees anybody who wants to talk and we have laid out conditions.
It seems that right now there is more interest on the media circus;
witness the fact that those arriving over your BlackBerrys this morning
before we had been informed. So at this juncture, it’s clear that
they’re trying to create some media drama, and I’ll leave it at that.

Q But, Tony, on March 14th, the President was in Mexico, he was
at a press conference and said, “I’ve heard those allegations about
political decision-making in this matter. It’s just not true.” How can
that be true when now there are emails showing that the White House
Political Director was involved in the firings? Wouldn’t that suggests
politics —

MR. SNOW: No, the White House Political Director — I think if you
take a look at the White House Political Director, these most recent
emails I believe took place after the personnel action had taken place.
And furthermore, look, you can assume that when you have political
appointees, the Political Office is certainly going to have some
conversations. And I believe that the emails you’re talking about
involve Tim Griffin.

Q Okay. But you’re saying you would assume that politics would
be involved because there’s a political — but at the beginning of this
story —

MR. SNOW: No, no, no, I said the Political Office would have some
knowledge of it.

Q Okay, but at the beginning of this story, the President, you,
Dan Bartlett, others said on camera that politics was not involved, this
was performance-based.

MR. SNOW: That is something — we have never said that. I think
you’ll have to take a look at comments that have been made by the
Justice Department. What we’ve said is that people serve at the
pleasure of the President. That’s the operative principle here.

Q The President said, I’ve heard those allegations about
political decision-making and it’s just not true. I mean, he clearly
said politics was not involved, right?

MR. SNOW: Right.

Q So now politics was because the Political Director —

MR. SNOW: No. Just because the Political Director is weighing in
on something does not mean that this is politics involved. These are
political appointees. Also, if you took a look at the emails that have
come out, there was — at least from the White House side, a very strong
effort to say we do not, in fact, want to be impugning the character of
these people who have served. And the principle is the same, it’s the
one that I’ve been saying from the very beginning, Ed, which is that the
President has the authority to remove those who serve at his pleasure.
And these were all individuals who had completed their terms as U.S.
attorneys.

Q You make a good point that these emails were in February, with
Sarah Taylor. Can you say from that podium categorically that the White
House Political Affairs Office was not involved back in November,
October, leading up to the December decision?

MR. SNOW: I think what we’ve done is we’ve already released all
the emails that are available, and you can draw whatever judgments —

Q From the Justice Department, but what about White House
emails?

MR. SNOW: Yes, but the — those were Justice Department emails,
including those that had come from the White House.

Q You don’t think that there’s any explanation owed to the
American people on whether they really performed badly, or not — over
the politics? And what have you got against them taking an oath and
having a transcript? What is this administration — why are you always
opposed for someone swearing to their testimony?

MR. SNOW: No, Helen, I think you take a look at a long line of
precedence that have to do with the way these — what we have said is
that we will make available to the committees individuals who are
perfectly willing to answer any and all questions.

Q But they won’t swear?

MR. SNOW: — that would be sufficient for the purposes of the
committees.

Q Well, what is the objection to swearing, swearing in on this?

MR. SNOW: Again, I’m just — I’m not going to go beyond —

Q Because you don’t have any.

Q Is the President willing to go to court to fight these
subpoenas?

MR. SNOW: That is way premature.

Q Why is it way premature? He has said, I believe, in the past

MR. SNOW: Again, the first thing that we’ve said —

Q — said in the past that you would be willing.

MR. SNOW: Well, again, we’ll just take a look. At this point,
they are going to be reviewing the subpoenas and responding
appropriately. It’s very early. I can’t characterize something that
hasn’t been fully vetted.

Now you probably have brain damage too. Republicans are actively weaponizing the American people’s ignorance, as BooTrib member sbj likes to say. I actually feel myself getting dumber.

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