Interviewed by the New York Times, the
second-ranking Republican in
the Senate, Don Nickles of Oklahoma,
said his collegues in the Grand Old
Party are href="http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/050300cuba-boy-repubs.html">backing away from plans to investigate
Janet Reno’s raid on
Little Havana. “It could be turned into
political theater, and I don’t
think anyone wants that,” Nickles said.
“I’d like to get some answers to
some questions, but I don’t think we
need a big show.”

Warp back to an earlier time … say, a
week before. In a
Chicago Tribune interview, the zealous (if factually impaired) Nickles called for blood: “The administration keeps doing things that seem excessive. Waco was one. Ruby Ridge
was another. This is another one. To me, it’s an abuse of power.”

In his now-discarded outrage, Nickles apparently didn’t realize that the Ruby Ridge incident took place five months before Clinton took office.

href="http://drudge.com/retort.shtml">Spoof of the day comes from
the Matt Drudge-mocking “Drudge Retort.”
“ELIAN TRADED FOR HARD-THROWING
RIGHTHANDER!” the main headline screams.
“In a deal that has the backing of
the U.S. Department of Justice and
representatives of Miami’s
Cuban-American community, Elian
Gonzalez was traded to Cuba today
for
right-handed pitcher Jose Ariel
Contreras and a defector to be named
later.” And what about poor Elian? “A
child’s freedom is a
small price to pay for starting
pitching.”