Yeah, Right, Whatever

Just when you think the complete and total nut cases are confined to places like the DU, you hear about full-fledged conspiracy theories... in the US House of Representatives.

I saw Representative Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) on FoxNews' Hannity and Colmes last night. He has this theory. It's an interesting theory. Too bad he's accusing White House personnel of felonies with no proof.

U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-Hurley, has not backed off comments he made over the weekend that the White House may be responsible for phony documents used by CBS last year in a report questioning President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard.

New York Democratic Congressman Maurice Hinchey is accusing the White House, and specifically adviser Karl Rove, of "setting up" CBS to air the now-discredited report on President Bush's National Guard service. At a weekend forum in Ithaca, New York — taped by a member of the audience — Hinchey said, "Why did [the White House] do it? They knew that Bush was a draft dodger. ... They knew that he had no defense for that period in his life. ... So] they produced papers ... and they distributed those out to elements of the media. ... [CBS] finally bought into it."

So... here's how it went down (in Hinchey's mind)... the Bush campaign was worried about the President's past (no matter that Dem's supposedly don't care about having a draft dodger as President OR the fact that Mary Mapes had been working on the TANG story for 5 years with no luck). So, the campaign, under the thumb of the evil Karl Rove, produced these fake memos. They then gave these fake memos to a known Democrat hack, who gave them to CBS. CBS was duped, and published these memos, thinking they were real, and they were summarily discredited. Is that about right?

Now, I'm sure the respected Representative from the Great State of New York wouldn't make these accusations without concrete proof, right? Well... not exactly... you see... he has a hunch. It just sounds like something Karl Rove would do.

''My suspicion and my theory is that it's likely to be the White House political operation headed up by Karl Rove,'' Hinchey said. ''The proof is circumstantial.''

...Hinchey, however, said he has no evidence to back up his claim.

And what circumstantial proof does he have? Well, according to the interview last night, ... uh... umm... Rove is evil and it's something he would do. (No, really. That just about sums up what he said.) The Bush White House routinely attacks media outlets that are critical of the Administration, according to Hinchey. (If that was the case, then they'd be on the attack 24/7, wouldn't they?)


So, let me make sure I've got all of this straight. An elected member of the House of Representatives is accusing the President (via members of his staff) of committing a felony... based on a feeling. No proof. Not even circumstantial evidence, really. Just a hunch.

Hinchey said he did not believe he was being irresponsible by publicly theorizing about the matter. He said he owed it to his constituents to let them how he thinks.

"I have a responsibility to report (my theories) to my constituents and tell them conclusions or ideas that I am working on or believe based upon my analysis and interpretation of the facts," Hinchey said Monday.

You're right, Rep. Hinchey. You have a responsibility to make sure that your constituents know exactly what your theories are. I only have one request- PROVE IT!!! Put some real, tangible evidence out there for us to see.

But, even if you can't prove it, keep talking. Let everyone know your theories. After all, we could always use a few more Republican Representatives in '06.