Criminal Cartoons

I’m sorry, but this made me laugh out loud:

A wise reader wonders if the appearance of the PBS children’s-series character “Arthur” at a press conference with House Democrats runs afoul of the Hatch Act. …

If the “Arthur” is a federal employee, the Hatch Act permits federal employees to “attend and be active at political rallies and meetings,” so that would seem to cover it. But the Hatch Act also prohibits ”engaging in political activity while in official uniform.” Obviously, this provision is most frequently applied to military personnel.

This sounds like the kind of discussion I would get into with friends after a few drinks. It’s silly to ponder on one hand, but as Geraghty points out, it still represents a problem of taxpayer-funded employees being used to lobby for more taxpayer funds. It happens all the time.