The Goodling, the Badling, and the Uglying

Man, you give a hotshot young Dominionist a prestigious spot in the Department of Justice, and how does she repay you? You're on the hotseat, her ass is in the clear, and she decides to stop subverting justice and uphold the law.

If you felt even a faint spark of hope reading that, you have my sincerest apologies. But we're still in Bizarroworld.

First, a pleasant bit of fun from Monica Goodling's otherwise craven and dishonest testimony:

"The mission of the law school you attended, Regent, is to bring to bear upon legal education and the legal profession the will of almighty God, our creator. What is the will of almighty God, our creator, on the legal profession?" he asked, apparently attempting to provoke some reaction.

Goodling wisely dodged. "I'm not sure that I could define that question for you," she said.

As has been reported, Goodling graduated in 1995 from Messiah College in Grantham, Pa., where the school motto is "Christ Preeminent." After spending one year in law school at American University, she transferred to Pat Robertson's Regent University School of Law, in Virginia Beach, Va., where the motto is "Christian Leadership to Change the World." According to the ranking by U.S. News and World Report, Regent is a "forth-tier" law school, accepting more than half of its applicants. Yale, which ranks as the nation's top law school, accepts less than 7 percent of applicants.

Cohen was apparently suggesting that something fishy was afoot at Regent. He apparently didn't think much of Goodling's diploma. He asked if she had an opinion on the roughly 150 Regent alums who have been hired by the Bush Administration.

"I think we have a lot more people from Harvard and Yale," Goodling deadpanned.

"That's refreshing," Cohen shot back. "Is it a fact -- are you aware of the fact that in your graduating class 50 to 60 percent of the students failed the bar the first time?"

"I'm not," said Goodling. "I don't remember the statistics, but I know it wasn't good. I was happy I passed the first time."

But it didn't last long. An oily demagogue from Virginia used the opportunity to pretend that Christians are a persecuted minority in this country. Because he's fine with a DOJ employee who's more than happy to break the law if she thinks Pat Robertson would want her to.

This exchange was more typical of Goodling's cowardly 'nonpology':

Scott: Do you believe that [it was] legal or illegal for you to take those political considerations in mind? Not whether they were legal or illegal, what do you believe? Do you believe that they were illegal?

Goodling: I don't believe I intended to commit a crime.

Scott: Did you break the law? Was it against the law to take those political considerations into account? You've got civil service laws. You've got obstruction of justice. Were there any laws that you could have broken by taking political considerations into account, quote, "on some occasions"?

Goodling: The best I can say is that I know I took political considerations into account on some occasions.

Scott: Was that legal?

Goodling: Sir, I'm not able to answer that question. I know I crossed the line.

Scott: What line -- legal?

Goodling: I crossed the line of the civil service rules.

Scott: Rules -- laws. You crossed the law on civil service laws. You crossed the line on civil service laws, is that right?

Goodling: I believe I crossed the lines. But I didn't mean to. I mean, I...

Scott: OK.

"I don't believe I intended to commit a crime."...?...!...? I'll say one thing for her-- she has a legal mind, knowledge of and regard for the rule of law that rivals anyone in this administration.