"Why should Barton apologize? I mean “why” not in the prudential, career-saving, ass-covering sense. From that point of view, his retraction makes perfect sense. But if you ask “why” in the larger sense of disinterested inquiry, it’s hard to know what to say. Joe Barton was right. The White House was, and still is, engaged in a shakedown, “a piece of extortion,” exacting as high a price as possible from a private company in an effort to garner some PR brownie points (and a lost of cash). It is a disgusting spectacle, reminiscent of the administration’s criminal defrauding of Chrysler secured bondholders last year.
Oh, well. It was a pleasant fifteen minutes. Imagine! A U.S. Congressman who actually had the courage to speak the truth. What a novelty! I should have known it couldn’t last.
If you happen to find Joe Barton’s testicles, you can return them to him here," - Roger Kimball, PajamasMedia.
We could get a real split here between the base and the establishment GOP.