Both U.S. Rep. John Larson, D-CT and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal are making double talk an art form. 

Larson, the blustering lieutenant to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has been omnipresent in recent days predicting a Democratic victory on the health care vote. But in less than 24 hours, Larson has gone from saying there should be an “up or down” vote on the Democrat’s $1 trillion takeover of the health care industry, to support of an arcane and sneaky parliamentary method known as “deem and pass.” Larson made those comments Thursday morning during an interview with FOX News.

Deem or pass or the executing rule, essentially agrees that a vote on one measure is tantamount to, or “deemed” as, deciding on something related. So if you pass something, something else passes as a result.

 Sort  of a “double secret probation,” kind of move.

While Larson claims the procedure has been used routinely, he forgets to mention the process was implemented for smaller procedural issues, not the seizure of one sixth of the nation’s economy.

Tuesday, Larson was more benevolent withChris Matthew of MSNBC’s Hardball, saying:

“They (the public), want to see something happen. They want an up or down vote.”

Blumenthal pulled his version of Claude Rains in Casablanca, saying that he was shocked and disturbed that United Technologies Corporationfound economic conditions so poor that it was thinking of leaving the state all together.

UTC is the largest private employer in the state and owns Pratt & Whitney, the jet engine maker that Blumenthal sued a few months ago in federal court.

Blumenthal had taken the side of the Machinists union who stopped temporary UTC from closing its facilities in East Hartford and Cheshire. Eric Gerson reported in Thursday’s Courant, that Blumenthal “would welcome the opportunity to sit down with UTC officials and discuss ways the state and federal governments can help cut the costs of doing business in Connecticut.”

Where is Claude Rains when you need him?

Blumenthal:  “lawsuits? – I can’t believe people in the state are being sued!”

Enter Assistant Attorney General: “Your brief, sir.”

Blumenthal: “Oh, thank you very much.”

Acting as if nothing is amiss is typical of the bizarre manner of Dick Blumenthal. He must sit up at night assuming different persona’s. One, he is defending the state against evil corporate American – UTC – and the other, the genial public servant looking for ways to streamline and make government work better. 

It is more than that. Blumenthal has an almost pathological need to please everyone. That is why in some responses over the years, he can take several positions on the same issue and think no one can connect the dots.

The best example was during the recent Democratic debate with Merrick Alpert, where Blumenthal claimed that “lawsuits create jobs.”  He explained  that the result of lawsuits, presumably his lawsuits, help level the playing field for more competition. That’s one way of looking it at. Destroy a company, like he has done in the past, and someone else can move in on the cheap.

What would we do without him?