Hooray for Congressman Trey Gowdy

Finally speaker John Boehner has done something right! By naming Rep. Trey Gowdy to chair the select committee the Speaker has assured the country that the select panel will be both competent and professional. Gowdy is a pit bull disguised as a southern gentleman. But he is indeed a gentleman of the old school, an era where men prided themselves on their deportment rather than their churlishness. In a July 6 2011 post at the New Republic Kara Brandeisky quoted the very partisan Washington Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton.

But when I later asked Norton about the Republican who is actually in charge of the subcommittee that oversees the District of Columbia—a South Carolina freshman named Trey Gowdy—she had gentler words. His colleagues may be impossible, but Gowdy, according to Norton, is an honest “gentleman.” “I so appreciate his attitude, which is very different from [the other Republicans],” she told me. Mayor Gray agreed in an email, calling Gowdy “open and honest.” This begs an obvious question: If the Republican leadership is provoking so much ire among D.C. autonomy activists, what exactly is this Tea Party congressman doing right? Norton and Gray, of course, might be couching their words because, whether they like it or not, Gowdy is the man to whom they must plead the District’s case. But as it turns out, there’s good evidence that their opinions of the congressman are more than empty flattery, as Gowdy’s done more than a few things to indicate he’s not all bad for D.C.

No one expects accolades as such to be heard once the committee gets down to the serious business of investigation but Gowdy at least starts with bipartisan respect if not infatuation. As for competence one would be hard pressed to find a better fit. The congressman from South Carolina has been both a local prosecutor and US attorney. At Hot Air Allahpundit notes that Gowdy appeared in an old episode of HLN's Forensic Files talking about a case he won. I can do that one better. Trey Gowdy twice appeared on the Forensic Files talking about two cases he won.
The House Democrats have begun singing the same old song we heard about the IRS scandal. It's a witch hunt. It has already been investigated by two committees never mind they could never get the documentation they subpoenaed. Many state they will not serve on the committee if asked. Fine! The country can endure without hearing another whining syllable from the likes of Elijah Cummings.
For the first time in 6 years at least part of the country is in the very best hands.