A quick read through the first part of the deposition of Dino Rossi proves yes, indeed, it was "judicially enforced political theater." Anyone with a basic understanding of the supposed legal justification for the deposition could tell as much reading through the text of the plantiffs' lawyers badgering Rossi with a host of unrelated questions to score political points.

The Seattle Times editorial page lays it out in tomorrow's paper:

THE deposition of Dino Rossi was a farce. For four hours in Seattle Tuesday, two pro-Democratic lawyers took turns jabbing the Republican candidate for governor with questions mostly irrelevant to the legal matter for which he was required to be there.

The supposed issue was what Rossi had said to certain members of the Master Builders Association in telephone calls in May 2007, five months before he declared himself a candidate. The lawyers might have confined themselves to that and been done in half an hour. Instead, they booked four hours plus an hour for lunch, chewed through all that time to little profit, and called Judge Paris Kallas of the King County Superior Court to ask for more.

Judge Kallas said no. They could forget it. There will be no more depositions of Rossi before the election. It was the right decision. She should have said no to the interrogation in the first place.

Read the whole thing. More to come on the topic.