Never has the phrase “the bum’s rush” been more aptly fitting in terms of how former House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) was received at yesterday’s Benghazi deposition — or of Mr. Issa himself:

Former House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) tried to crash former Hillary Clinton adviser Sidney Blumenthal’s deposition before the House Select Committee on Benghazi on Tuesday.

Issa marched into the closed-door deposition and remained inside for about a minute before he was escorted out by the panel’s chairman, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.).

Don’t you know who I am? I’m DARYL ISSA! I made my bones bringing down California governors and raising the alarm that Hillary Clinton was lying about Benghazi when you were ordering your first filet mignon at Ruth’s Chris Steak house.

The pair briefly exchanged hushed words in a nearby hallway before Issa stormed off, throwing an empty soda can into a nearby trash bin.

I’m a role model! I run this town! I’ll show you. See this damned soda can? I’ll throw it to show you my power!! If Chris Christie was here, I’d even throw him. Well, on second thought…

NBC News producer Frank Thorp posted a video showing Gowdy and Issa with their friendly chat:

The serious point here is that Issa now confirms what many had charged: he is absolutely fixated on this issue. He’s an example of the kind of politician who maintains power by transparently going on partisan attack (not the same as cool, unemotional fact gathering) and focusing on something negative, rather than having his name being associated with specific affirmative ideas on alternative policies and approaches that are better than then opposition’s. Then, then, that’s what our 21st century politics is now all about.

When he first got his chairmanship, many Democrats feared that he’d make their party and its leaders miserable with a parade of investigations. And the implication in many of those fears as voiced by politicians in news stories, by unnamed sources in news stories, and by liberal bloggers defending their party was that a)much of what he investigated would be overblown, but also, b)he might uncover something significant that could hurt their party or their party’s leaders.

A) came true.

B)did not

Politicians have often been accused of kicking the can down the road.

Issa can also throw the can (as well as the bull).

But he’s in a safe district — so he’ll never BE canned.

JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief

Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.

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