You may know McDermott now as "Baghdad Jim" for his enthusiasm for the late regime of Saddam Hussein, and the trip he took there just before the war, which we now know was paid for by the Iraqi government.

Back then, though, he was the senior Democrat on the Ethics Committee, eager both to defend President Clinton against impeachment and destroy Newt Gingrich in retaliation for the attempt. So McDermott gave the tape to the New York Times and other media outlets.

Unfortunately for him, that was a violation of federal law, and Boehner sued him. Boehner won, but McDermott has been fighting it ever since.

Well, yesterday (April first, but no joke), a federal judge ordered McDermott to pay Boehner more than one million dollars, mostly in attorney's fees. After all this time, did McDermott get the point? Sadly, no:

McDermott called the court fight with Boehner "a long and costly battle," but said the million-dollar judgment was "a small price to pay in defense of so fundamental a principle, and freedom, as the First Amendment."

Which would be a lovely and spirited thing to say, were it not for the fact that the Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal of the ruling, strongly implying that he wasn't actually defending the first amendment. He was just breaking the law.

Initially, Boehner had been willing to settle for an admission of wrongdoing, an apology to the House, and a ten-thousand dollar donation to charity. Instead, McDermott persisted in a costly and drawn-out court battle that has now cost him more than one million dollars.

I guess the proverb is true: "Fools and obstinate men make lawyers rich."