The biggest mystery in the wake of yesterday's baseball-steroids hearings may not be who was lying -- Clemens or McNamee -- but why the tone of the questioning was split along party lines.

Republicans basically gave McNamee what for. Democrats were mostly skeptical about Clemenss but treated him with respect.

It's being speculated the Clemens, a friend and Texas neighbor of George Bush 41, was being given cover by the GOP. There's already a story out today that if Clemens ever is convicted of perjury, George W. Bush will pardon him.

What I found particularly distasteful was the manner in which several Republicans on the committee went after McNamee. Reps. Burton, Shays and Issa tore him to shreds in no uncertain terms. McNamee's counsel later called it a "public flogging."

There was no reason for it. Say what you will about this entire steroids episode, McNamee and Clemens were not legally forced to testify. They cooperated with the committee and deserved better than what they got from a few grandstanders who sounded more like bleacher bums than United States congressmen.