Fool on the Hill

Burton followed that with a dreadful George Costanza-style stunt at his own hearings, in which his aides laboriously set up a 20-foot-long mock stone wall bearing the photos of Clinton, John Huang, Charlie Trie and others who figured in the campaign finance scandal. When the hearings began, Burton pointed to his creation and shouted "Look again at that wall! I call it a wall of shame!" It did not go over as he'd hoped. The dignity level plummeted from there and bottomed out in a panel-wide squabble over the etymology of "scumbag." (Some witnesses also claim to have heard Burton call Henry Waxman, the committee's ranking Democrat, a "prick.")

With Friends Like These: Gingrich has had a tough time defending Burton. COURT MAST/AP

Add to that the Hubbell tapes controversy, the Dave Bossie fiasco, and you would have understood if Gingrich had grabbed Burton by the ear and dragged him out back for some more ballistics practice -- with Burton playing the pumpkin. At a closed conference meeting in his office, Gingrich apologized to the rest of the GOP leadership for the tapes, their clumsy editing and clumsier release. When Burton shot back that he wasn't embarrassed, the Speaker had had enough. Fully aware that whatever he said was sure to be leaked to the press, Newt blew up at Burton. "Then I'm embarrassed for you," he said. "I'm embarrassed for myself, and I'm embarrassed for the conference at the circus that went on at your committee."

For Democrats, this is lush pickings. . . (continued)