Go down lyin’

(Score 1 for the animals)

Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert: “I really do want to spend more time with my family.”

Former White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove: “I've got to do this for the sake of my family.”

“More time with my family” is, of course, face-saving code for being asked to resign or for being drummed out of an elected office for lying, or for being caught in a compromising situation (like a conservative right-wing nut getting caught tapping the foot of a guy in the next bathroom stall or snorting methamphetamine with a gay male prostitute), or for being passed over for a job that should have been yours.

University of Minnesota: Statement from R. Timothy Mulcahy re: UW-Madison chancellor 5/27/2008

I was deeply honored to be selected as one of four finalists for the position of chancellor at UW-Madison, … I made the difficult decision to withdraw my name from consideration … In the end, my personal desire to enjoy quality time with my wife, children, and grandchildren, combined with my professional interest in advancing a wide range of initiatives I have started at the University of Minnesota, led me to this decision.

It would have been embarrassing to Mulcahy and his current employer to admit that he was passed over at least in part because of criticism of his record of misleading the public and defending the UW in various animal research scandals during his tenure. It would have been embarrassing to admit that his anti-union comments turned the UW classified staff against him. (Wait, he defends vivisection because he cares so much about people, but when people want to organize to negotiate better working conditions he says no way?)

It could be coincidental that this shoo-in for the chancellor’s position pulled out after the selection committee missed its announced deadline for naming the new chancellor after local media called attention to criticism from the animal rights community and the employees, but it probably wasn’t.

Go down lyin’.