This is too much. The Justice Department actually called a witness in the Texas Voter ID trial today in Washington, D.C. The witness complained she couldn’t find the time to get her parents to drive her to get the free photo ID, but she obviously had time to fly to Washington, D.C., from Texas to testify at trial!

Henry Jackson writes at the Associated Press.

Victoria Rose Rodriguez, 18, told a federal court in Washington that she had limited documentation — a birth certificate, a high school transcript and a student ID card with a photo on it — but is currently a registered voter in Texas. She said her parents are too busy to take her or her twin sister to get the new voter identification cards required by the law.

Naturally, Henry Jackson doesn’t seem to note this obvious laugher, that Rodriguez has parents too busy to get the ID, but can hop a plane in San Antonio and spend at least a day in Washington, D.C., and then ride back home. In fact, Jackson (and the rest of press) simply laps up the government’s stories without question.

There was a time in the Voting Section when the DOJ wouldn’t introduce such absurd evidence. The conversation would go something like this:

Young lawyer: I want to call Victoria Rodriguez. Her parents are too busy to give her a ride to get photo ID. They don’t have the 30 minutes to spare.

Older seasoned lawyer: Well, do you really think that is a good idea? Don’t you think we open ourselves up to a devastating cross examination about priorities?

Young lawyer: I’m not sure I follow.

Older seasoned lawyer: We’re not going to call her. Texas will point out the absurdity of us calling a witness to say she doesn’t have time to get a photo ID but can fly 2000 miles to testify at trial. Who took the time to drive her to the airport? We’d need to get her a cab to make this story work. Isn’t going to happen. It could prove embarrassing.

Add a southern accent to the old seasoned lawyer and I’m pretty sure this is the exact conversation that would occur. These days, as we know, irrational decisions are being made from root to branch.

Update: Did the Associated Press Airbrush an Inconvenient Quote?