Balkin on Congressional Outrage at FBI

Jack Balkin pretty much nails the hypocrisy of Hastert and Pelosi and the other Congressmen throwing a fit about the raid on Jefferson's office:

The Bush Administration has, over the past six years, detained American citizens without any of the protections of the Bill of Rights, engaged in cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees, imposed new forms of secrecy to insulate itself from oversight both by the Press and by Congress, used the state secrets privilege to shut down any investigation into its mistreatment of detainees, hid and prevaricated about the evidence justifying, the reasons for, and the cost of Iraqi war, and begun a massive spying program on American citizens. Throughout all of these events, the United States Congress has been essentially supine, unable or unwilling to lift a finger to oppose an executive branch that was simultaneously incompetent, arrogant and out of control. And now, when the FBI catches redhanded a Congressman engaged in the most egregious act of corruption, *now* members of Congress are upset that the Executive is asserting too much authority.

They have their nerve.

Indeed they do. In fact, it reminds me of the nerve of Larry Fafarman, impersonating his own brother to falsely accuse his real brother of impersonating his brother.