Sensenbrenner sits up, takes notice, holds a hearing...

Dana Milbank has a nicely judged story about the priorities of Congress these days:

When asked to hold hearings on the rendition and torture of terrorism suspects, House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) respectfully declined.

Invited repeatedly to probe the Bush administration's leaking of a CIA operative's identity, the chairman sent his regrets.

Urged to have hearings dedicated to the administration's warrantless eavesdropping, Sensenbrenner demurred once more.

But when FBI agents searched a congressional office 11 days ago, Sensenbrenner went up to the attic and found his gavel.

The whole thing would be funny, if anything about this government were still humorous...

I mean, after all ... as Chris Van Hollen of Maryland reminded the committee, there have been a "number of examples of overreaching by the executive branch where there's been a total lack of oversight by this Congress: the torture memorandum, detainees, enemy combatants, signing statements, domestic surveillance, data-mining operations."

In reaction to that observation, "Sensenbrenner took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes."

Understandable.

It's all very much "whose ox is being gored?" All very Brooksian (Mel, that is): Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you walk into an open sewer and die.

All very much like this bumper sticker (t-shirts, hats, and the bumper sticker now available courtesy of Outside The Beltway at Cafepress).

But maybe something good will come of this.

This all seemed to wake up freshman Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.). "I've been so much more concerned about the judiciary overreaching in power, and I really had not looked at the executive," he confessed. But after the "phone logs and things," he added, "I've become more concerned."