Conyers: Lame duck session will investigate Karl Rove

John Conyers addressed a progressive activist group this past weekend and tried to find some way to energize the base. The 111th Congress has done little for anyone to cheer, of course, with the progressives unhappy that ObamaCare didn’t contain a public-option Trojan horse for an eventual single-payer plan, and everyone else unhappy about ObamaCare in general.  What better way to get some love from the audience than to promise an investigation into the single biggest menace facing America?  Would that be joblessness, capital flight, national security, or the federal deficit?  No, it’s something much, much more malevolent:

Great idea, Congressman.  What better way to bring an end to a laughably inept Congress than to have it investigate someone not in government, not lobbying government, without a single idea of why an investigation is needed?  “Karl Rove is at it again, and I think we ought to take a new look at him,” Conyers says, but never explains what “it” is.  Oh, wait, it’s mischief.  I seem to recall the “mischief” clause of the Constitution that gives Congress the authority to just start probes of private citizens because some members don’t like them.  Lord knows there isn’t anything else Congress could be doing — like, say, actually doing its Constitutional duty and exercising some oversight over the executive branch.

Or, heck, maybe we can even get an investigation into House members who bounce checks to the government.

• Good news from Sheila Jackson Lee: The Constitution implies a right to health care and education
• Getting to the bottom of this Miranda question for the bomber
• McCain: Why are these Republicans trying to block gun control?

Blowback