Mic Check, One Two, One Two

On the MoveOn.org ad, two differing views: Mark Kleiman vs. Kevin Drum.

Microphone difficulties at the hearing required a brief recess to remedy resulting in the follow exchange:

Adding to those difficulties, protesters waved signs and shouted loudly, and it took security officers a while to clear them from the room. Unlike Petraeus’s microphone, Skelton’s was working just fine. “That really pisses me off down there, Those a——-,” Skelton was heard saying to the committee’s ranking Republican member Duncan Hunter of California. Hunter, pointing out where the protesters were seated, advised Skelton of their plan to interrupt the hearing every five minutes for the next hour or so and urged Skelton to remove the lot of them if the disruptions persisted.

Rep. Dan Burton (R., Ind.) also added to Skelton’s grief when he attempted to advise the chairman on how to proceed amid the difficulties. Burton later approached Skelton. “I didn’t mean to lecture you,” Burton said. “The hell you didn’t,” Skelton replied.

A staffer quickly switched off Skelton’s microphone.

Priceless.