Bread and Circuses

Neal Freeman's a former Federal employee who survived Senate confirmation despite "some industry chatter that [he] might be a latent supporter of privatization." Now Neal provides advice and tips for Judge Roberts, in the current (alas still subscription only) Weekly Standard:

First, there's Mrs. Farnsworth. Don't remember her? Well, nobody else does, either. But she's out there and the FBI will find her. Sometime between now and the Judiciary Committee vote, she will get her 15 minutes of cable fame. Why? Because your falling maple tree once crushed her picket fence. Or because she swears she saw you take a third drink at the Christmas party. Or because you once had to fire her nephew the klepto. Or, who knows, because she never got over the fact that Mom liked you best.

Now I know that you have led a spotless life. You seem to have been in serious confirmation prep since you were about 15. (It seems probable that Mom did in fact like you best.) But you're up against a wounded FBI bureaucracy here. They will leave no pebble unturned in their effort to build a comprehensive file.

That's "comprehensive," by the way, as in "unimaginably intrusive." The old standby "Orwellian" doesn't quite do the job.

I'll post a link to Freeman's hilarious article as soon as it appears.