She does it again...

Rochelle Riley always gives me a case of I-Wish-I-Had-Thought-To-Say-That. Here are some highlights from her column last week about the congressional hearing about steroids:

As I tuned in to congressional hearings into steroid use in baseball, I had just one question: Why were these congressional representatives so mad?

They didn't seem that upset about U.S. foreign policies that don't make sense, or federal "let-the-rich-get-richer" policies that are hurting America, or health-care proposals that cost twice as much as touted. ...

The anger on the reps' faces over damage done to our national pastime was incomprehensibly stronger than their outrage over damage that America's turn in Iraq will do to its global reputation.

Or maybe, after holding in all that war outrage for the sake of political correctness, the reps unleashed it on targets they didn't fear politically: boys cheating at sports, boys whose tree-trunk biceps they knew weren't normal.

Congress is feeding America's fascination with celebrity by making front-page news of baseball heroes and steroids. Oh, that they would pay as much attention to scientists who enable us to live longer and researchers who make some diseases disappear -- and American soldiers who are dying every week in Iraq. ...

And Congress is asking about cheating baseball players?

Congress should be hauling the president back to hearings, without Vice President Dick Cheney holding his hand, to explain where his policies are taking America, not asking Mark McGwire how he knows steroids are bad.

House members should demand that Bush give an honest analysis of how long our troops will be in Iraq -- not doing baseball's job. ...

Two months after their historic election, Iraqis still wait for a government. Should Congress really be focusing on whether home run kings should be stripped of batting titles -- isn't it obvious? -- and whether baseball players are bad role models?

Congress should be keeping its eye on the ball -- the deaths of American soldiers, not ill-gotten home runs.

Talk about wrong priorities.

I just changed the channel.

She always makes me think a little bit more about the world and words, and how I fit in somewhere in the middle.