Legal Commentary

Howard wrote earlier about the striking partisan divide in the House hearing on Roger Clemens' steroid use, with the Democrats mostly attacking Clemens and the Republicans by and large going after Brian McNamee.  Further to that, note this story in today's Times:

... [Rep. Mark] Souder [R-Ind] was also one of the few committee members who refused Clemens's request for a private meeting.  Souder said during the hearing that the depositions were "fairly devastating" against Clemens.

"I don't think, quite frankly, that they anticipated quite the solid wall on the Republican side, the defense of Clemens," Souder said.  "It wasn't an accident that word got to me that he's a Republican, or [that] he said that President Bush called him."

Let me note, as always, that I don't intend this post in a one-sided or partisan fashion.  Democrats who engage in similar behavior are of course equally subject to criticism.  And it should be noted that Democratic committee members were among those who accepted Clemens's pre-testimony publicity tour of members' offices, complete with photo ops and so on.  Nevertheless, even-handedness should not prevent me from saying that this kind of behavior stinks.