Black Pork

AP reports that bills we can't see look rather like those we can: lovingly stuffed with pork. The report jumps off an investigation of the incarcerated Rep. Duke Cunningham, who habitually slipped self-help items into classified intelligence bills. But in his case, at least, there is an explanation:

One committee member, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, said Cunningham also had an exaggerated personality. "If he were talking about a tuna fish sandwich, it could drive him to anger or tears," Issa said. "Some of his actions were discounted as, 'It's just Duke.' "

In other words: We accepted pork to avoid recurrent temper tantrums. Another committee member weighs in:

"Our committee—our 20-odd people and a comparable number of staff—cannot offer sufficient oversight over many billions of dollars of activity," said Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J.

"We don't try," he said