In the political theater department, Congress invites the heads of five major oil companies to testify — not under oath — about their recent upsurge in profits and concerns about price gouging. (No questions, of course, about the huge subsidies and tax breaks the GOP have granted them of late.) “The hearing opened with Republicans refusing a request by Democrats that the five executives take an oath before testifying. That avoided an embarrassing photo akin to when tobacco executives raised their right hands at a 1994 congressional hearing and swore cigarettes were not addictive.”