Yesterday Steve Benen writing at Washington Monthly poked fun at "fourth-string" White House spokesperson Scott Stanzel:
Q: Scott, is Scooter Libby getting more than equal justice under the law? Is he getting special treatment?If he had stayed with Stanzel's performance he would have uncovered another example of the young man's comedic talent.
STANZEL: Well, I guess I don't know what you mean by "equal justice under the law."
Oddly enough, Stanzel's probably right; he and his colleagues don't know what people mean by "equal justice under the law." He is, however, supposed to pretend.
According to Klaus Marre writing in The Hill.com Stanzel used the presser to complain that the Democrats have averaged 6 oversight hearings a day since the Democrats took charge of Congress. The White House has turned over 200,000 pages of (mostly redacted) documents. Stanzel said:
I would raise those issues because it raises the question, what does Congress want to do? Do they want to pass legislation for the American people or would they rather investigate and have politics be the course of the day?A few stray thoughts about Stanzel's whine. First, the Democrats are making up for lost time. The Administration was able to run wild, free of any Congressional oversight during its first 6 years.
I would say they have a lot to show in terms of activity and requests and letter-writing, and that sort of thing, but not much to show in the way of real legislation, whether it’s legislation on healthcare, education, comprehensive immigration reform.
Second, the Democrats could easily perform both of their constitutional functions if the White House cooperated with the various investigations or if it merely held any of its miscreant loyal Bushies accountable for their screw ups.
Third, oversight is also one of the administration's jobs. As we reported yesterday it seems the Bush administration has been working just as hard to politicize their Inspectors General as they have worked to politicize the Department of Justice.
Fourth, if the White House wanted to pass legislation they could persuade Republican congressmen and women to stop being obstructionists. They should send a simple message to Senate Republicans -- Up Or Down Vote.
As for Mr. Stanzel I suggest he find out the name of the company with the White House white-out concession and buy some stock.
