I stand corrected

The other day, I thought I had found the most ironic thing ever. But it turns out that I was wrong. Now I have found the most ironic thing ever.

Jane Harman is a Democratic member of the US House of Representatives from California. She has, ahem, allegedly been busted trying to sell favorable treatment for Israel in Congress in return for the chairmanship of an important Congressional committee. That's basically the same thing that put former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich in prison, except that it comes with the added facet of treason.

Rep Harman was supposedly caught doing her dirty deal via a warrantless wiretap. Rep Harman has taken to the media circuit to call on the government to release transcripts of her recorded conversations because, she says, she can't remember ever doing such a deal. She is "outraged" at this "abuse of power" by the government, and she demands to know "whether members of Congress are routinely wiretapped without their knowledge." Because the civil rights of members of Congress are more important than the rest of us...? Wow.

The answer to the question of whether you're routinely wiretapped without your knowledge is probably Yes, Jane -- just like the rest of us. Why? The Patriot Act, of course, which makes this practice "legal" (even though it's obviously unconstitutional). And because the paranoia in America these days apparently knows no bounds.

And here's where the most ironic thing ever happens. Jane Harman voted for the Patriot Act. That's right, she voted to allow the very practice that, when it targets her, is an outrageous abuse of power. Incredible.

And just so we are clear, the most ironic thing ever is not that she might have been busted using the same overreaching governmental power she voted to authorize, it's that she now has the balls to complain about it being used as a tool by law enforcement officials to catch foreign agents committing crimes in the United States, which is exactly what it was intended for, and presumably why she voted for it.

And here's a related question: Is this now the most hypocritical thing ever? Or is the most hypocritical thing ever still impeaching a US President for marital infidelity while you're committing adultery yourself? I can't decide.