You know, that place with all the lights

That Twanda Carlisle is one shameless woman. The Associated Press reports that the former Pittsburgh councilwoman, who is now living with the government for a while for taking more than $43,000 in kickbacks, apparently charged two personal plane tickets to Vegas on her city credit card after she had been indicted for corruption. City Controller Mike Lamb said he was shocked this week when he got the eight-month-old bill for the tickets. The funny part is that the invoice says Carlisle, who had used her ill-gotten gains to pay for, among other things, jewelry, a trip to Aruba, a laptop computer and a $4,494 mink coat, took her mother, Constance Parker, on the Vegas trip, but Parker can't seem to recall anything about it. It's conceivable that Carlisle, who has had a strained relationship with the truth, actually took someone else with her, but Parker didn't say she had never been to Vegas, or that she didn't go on this particular trip. It's "I don't recall." Wasn't that a favorite phrase of the Watergate crooks and Alberto Gonzalez? I can understand if someone said they didn't remember if they'd been to Nineveh or West Alexander in 1974, but Vegas?!?! Eight months ago?!?! Here's some free advice for Ms. Parker: Early intervention is important in dealing with Alzheimer's, but if you're just a regular old liar, like your daughter, all the pills in the world won't help.