"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast" -Oscar Wilde |
"The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth, shall be watered also himself." -- Proverbs 11:25 |
Ten years ago, with all the flourishes that attend political scandal in Washington, an independent counsel was appointed to investigate the case of Henry Cisneros, the former housing secretary. After four years of investigation, Mr. Cisneros pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and paid a $10,000 fine for lying about how much he paid a former mistress. Case closed? Not at all.
The independent counsel's work on the Cisneros case continues to grind forward six years later at a cost of $20 million and counting. A final report is promised sometime in the future. Taxpayers must be waiting with bated breath to read it.
The court overseeing the inquiry was informed two years ago that the investigative phase was over. A Democratic move this year to close off financing of the inquiry was approved by the Senate but was suddenly struck from a budget bill this week in negotiations with the House. It's hard to imagine anything was behind that move besides partisanship.