House Republicans Ready for Investigations?

Some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

Season of Subpoenas

House Republicans are already sharpening the knives getting ready for a host of investigations should they gain the majority this November. Politico predicts some of the probes would deal with Sestak, Romanoff and "Jobgate," bailouts, the New Black Panther Party and ACORN.

Former Clinton Administration counsel Lanny Davis says, "I actually think it will be even worse than what happened to Bill Clinton, because of the animosity they already feel for President Obama."

Kurt Bardella, a spokesman for Darrell Issa, R-Calif., says, "How acrimonious things get really depend on how willing the administration is in accepting our findings [and] responding to our questions."

Get the Lead Out

Some environmental groups are asking the EPA to ban lead bullets, even though the agency is prohibited from controlling ammunition The justification would be that lead is toxic and there are now non-toxic alternatives.

The National Rifle Association shoots that down saying the EPA has no authority to regulate ammunition of any composition. And sporting groups point out that non-lead bullets are often twice as expensive as traditional ones.

Out of the Closet

Former George W. Bush campaign chief Ken Melhman has announced he is gay. But the outrage that might have accompanied such a disclosure just a few years ago is largely non-existent.

The New York Times headlined it, "No Bombshell in Age of Fiscal Cares" and writes, "Even the commentary accusing him of hypocrisy seemed outweighed by people who wished him well or merely shrugged."

Mehlman says he'll work for legalization of same-sex marriage, an effort already supported by several former Bush team members, including former Vice President Dick Cheney. However, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins says Mehlman's announcement helps explain what he called the scandalous failure of the Republican establishment to fight same-sex marriage.

Beck and Call

Former D.C. congressional delegate Walter Fauntroy is comparing Tea Party activists who are supporting the Glenn Beck rally here in Washington on Saturday to the Ku Klux Klan.

Fauntroy is trying to ramp up opposition to the rally which takes place on the anniversary of the Martin Luther King "I Have a Dream" speech: "We are going to take on... the decadence of racism... (of) the Ku Klux -- I meant to say the Tea Party... you have to use them interchangeably."

Fauntroy went on to say rally organizers are the same people who tried to disrupt King's speech in 1963. One of the speakers at Saturday's rally will be Dr. King's niece, Alveda King.