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During a recent House Judiciary Committee hearing concerning oversight, Rep. Zoe Lofgren decided to quiz Attorney General Eric Holder about the federal government's surveillance efforts, starting off with a rather simple question. She notes that the bulk phone record collection program is considered to be legal by its supporters, based on Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which allows for the collection of "business records." So, she wonders, is there any legal distinction between phone records and, say, internet searches or emails? In other words, does the DOJ believe that it would be perfectly legal for the US government to...

A top building trades union is launching a midterm-election assault on House Democrats who oppose construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. A letter distributed Friday by the Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA) to the districts of 27 House Democrats calls for union members to make sure their representative "feels the power and the fury of LIUNA this November." Their crime: signing a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry last month urging him to reject Keystone, which would carry oil sands from Canada to Gulf Coast refineries.

Congressional support for controversial online piracy legislation eroded dramatically on Wednesday in the face of an unprecedented online protest supported by tech titans such as Google, Wikipedia and Facebook. Several key senators withdrew their support from the Senate's Protect IP Act (PIPA), including Tea Party favorite Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), an elected member of his party's leadership. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who leads the Senate GOP's campaign team, said the legislation should be put on hold, while Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a sponsor and the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, retreated from the...

Internet providers would be forced to keep logs of their customers' activities for one year--in case police want to review them in the future--under legislation that a U.S. House of Representatives committee approved today. The 19 to 10 vote represents a victory for conservative Republicans, who made data retention their first major technology initiative after last fall's elections, and the Justice Department officials who have quietly lobbied for the sweeping new requirements, a development first reported by CNET. A last-minute rewrite of the bill expands the information that commercial Internet providers are required to store to include customers' names, addresses,...

The House ethics committee ruled on Monday that there was evidence to support 13 counts of misconduct by Representative Charles B. Rangel, and began considering whether to formally convict and recommend punishment against him. The ruling came after a dramatic and puzzling appearance by Mr. Rangel, 80, in which he protested that he could no longer afford to pay his lawyers, and indignantly walked out of the proceedings, calling them unfair. Committee members were unmoved. Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren, Democrat of California, noted dryly that Mr. Rangel, a Harlem Democrat, was responsible for paying his lawyers and that he had been...

Here is video of the Democrat Chair of a House Ethics Subcommittee, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, asking embattled Dem Rep. Charlie Rangel to “be seated” after he rambled extensively following her simple question whether there was any objection to the committee counsel’s motion to introduce evidence against Rangel. It is Rangel’s contention he is being denied an attorney at the proceeding, even though it has been his own decision to not to continue retaining an attorney. He claims he cannot afford one, but the committee has said it is not their responsibility to get him a lawyer. After letting him ramble...

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, in a candid off-camera moment just before a campaign event for her colleague Barbara Boxer in San Jose on Monday, was greeted by a reporter who asked how things are going. Her answer: "Bad." "In the House?" pressed KTVU political editor Randy Shandobil. Feinstein didn't elaborate, but Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, spoke up to offer a more optimistic view of Democrats' chances on Nov. 2.

Disgraced Congressman Charlie Rangel attempted to escape reality by diving into a crowd of adoring lefties at the “One Nation Working Together” rally at the Lincoln Memorial. The Harlem Democrat is about to stand trial to defend against 13 counts of ethical charges by his colleagues in the House, but you wouldn’t know it if you saw him being treated like a rock star on Saturday. Rangel sported enormous black sunglasses and delved into the crowds, who cheered “Charlie, Charlie!” A happy-go-lucky Charlie hugged the fans, glad-handed and yelled “I love you!” Well, Charlie tried to escape reality, but HUMAN...

Personally, I completely agree with Glenn Reynolds that having this idiot Colbert testify was nothing more than a Democrat stunt to take the media's eye off the very real and important testimony also taking place today regarding the Justice Department's racism scandals. So the more cringe-worthy and embarrassing Colbert's appearance is, the better. Naturally, the MSM will be all too willing to play along. They fully understand how damaging the DOJ Black Panther case is to the Obama Administration and have no desire to come anywhere near covering it. And of course, there's Stephen Colbert, just as willing to play...

Via Gateway Pundit. Just kidding about the headline, by the way: Hoyer didn’t say that the decision to let Colbert testify was inappropriate. What he said was that the testimony itself was inappropriate and an “embarrassment” — to Colbert. The Democratic leadership is, as always, apparently blameless. John Podhoretz calls it a landmark in the history of unforced errors: Colbert, playing his blowhard-conservative-pseudo-O’Reilly character, was screamingly funny (you can watch him here). Among other things, he attempted to introduce the results of his colonoscopy into the Congressional Record. The members of Congress were screamingly funny too, only unintentionally. There were...

Given both hosts' penchant for satire, it was unclear whether the rallies would actually take place............. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have set October 30 as the date for their respective rallies. "A million moderate march, where we take to the streets to send a message to our leaders and our national media that says, 'We are here! We ... are only here until 6 though, because we have a sitter,'"Stewart said. "Now is not the time to take it down a notch. Now is the time for all good men to freak out for freedom," Colbert said. The announcements...

Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert is slated to testify at a congressional hearing Friday on immigration titled “Protecting America’s Harvest,” two sources have told The Daily Caller. One Republican source said Colbert will be testifying “in character,” the Bill O’Reilly-like muse Colbert uses for his show. A Judiciary Committee spokeswoman, confirming Colbert would testify, said the hearing matter was a “serious issue . . . this is not a TV stunt.” Some Republicans have already expressed unhappiness with Colbert witnessing at the hearing, thinking it would make light of a serious issue. The hearing is before the House Judiciary Committee’s...

These are the same people who thought putting Al Franken in the Senate was a good idea. So, Democrat genius, Zoe Logfren arranged to have “comedian” Stephen Colbert testify in front of the United States Congress–in character. Colbert’s testimony was essential to crafting a plan for dealing with illegal immigration. Byron York summarizes Colbert’s stirring testimony: "Then Colbert began his testimony, which was an in-character schtick based on a one-day visit to an upstate New York farm. ‘This is America,’ Colbert said. ‘I don’t want a tomato picked by a Mexican.’ As the hearing went on, Colbert said things like,...

(Instapundit) — DISTRACTION: So, yesterday reader John Mark Williams suggested that the Colbert testimony was intended to distract from coverage of Christopher Coates’ testimony about the Justice Department’s racism scandals. If so, it’s worked. Front page of Daily Caller: Colbert. Drudge led with Colbert until the news of the Klein & Zucker firings came out. Limbaugh led off today talking about Colbert. NRO has covered Colbert at The Corner, but not Coates. Washington Examiner headline: Colbert. Looking around other sites, I see more about Colbert than Coates. Hot Air and Power Line did better.But let me quote the Power...

September 24, 2010 DISTRACTION: So, yesterday reader John Mark Williams suggested that the Colbert testimony was intended to distract from coverage of Christopher Coates’ testimony about the Justice Department’s racism scandals. If so, it’s worked. Front page of Daily Caller: Colbert. Drudge led with Colbert until the news of the Klein & Zucker firings came out. Limbaugh led off today talking about Colbert. NRO has covered Colbert at The Corner, but not Coates. Washington Examiner headline: Colbert. Looking around other sites, I see more about Colbert than Coates. Hot Air and Power Line did better. But let me quote the...

Stephen Colbert appearing at the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law has done its job. They wanted to distract everyone from the bombshells coming out of the Black Panther hearings when Christopher Coates testified, and it sure did. Glenn Reynolds: Front page of Daily Caller: Colbert. Drudge led with Colbert until the news of the Klein & Zucker firings came out. Limbaugh led off today talking about Colbert. NRO has covered Colbert at The Corner, but not Coates. Washington Examiner headline: Colbert. Looking around other sites, I see more about Colbert than...

You really can't make this stuff up folks.  Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert was invited to Capitol Hill today to address the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Security by Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren.  After reading an opening statement, (the first video below) which sounded a lot like his nightly monologue, he quickly came under fire from many on the subcommittee. What blew me away was not that he turned the testimony into a sideshow, but the fact that these mindless idiots wasted the time and taxpayer money to have him there in the first place.  I mean, don't they...

I actually like Stephen Colbert. He is nowhere as funny as Jon Stewart, but he has his moments. But unlike Stewart, he does often have a tin ear. Remember the Journalist banquet when Colbert bashed Bush? It simply was not funny. Today, Colbert had an even worse moment. What Democrat Zoe Lofgren was thinking when she invited Colbert, in character no less, to a Congressional meeting is beyond me. It is an insane idea to begin with: bring in a political satirist, doing his shtick in front of an official meeting of Congress? You might as well have Katy Perry...

At the best of times there’s not a lot you can say about Stephen Colbert you can’t say about hemorrhoids, and no-one unfortunate enough to have witnessed his latest foray into the public eye will have confused this with one of his best times. In case you missed the clip, or just couldn’t get through it for sheer embarrassment and pity, Colbert’s self-immolation can be summarized thus: For reasons best known to his therapist, Colbert chose to use the occasion of his testimony before a House judiciary subcommittee, ostensibly dealing with farm workers and immigration, to recycle a lame and...

John Harwood was not amused . . . Harwood, chief Washington correspondent for CNBC and political writer for the New York Times, offered a surprisingly harsh assessment of Stephen Colbert's testimony, in Colbert Show character, before Congress yesterday. Harwood ripped the episode in response to Lester Holt's observation, on this morning's Today show, that he didn't know whether to cringe or laugh. Harwood had no doubts, saying "it was all cringing for me," and went on to lambaste it from there . . . View video here.