Walton doesn’t like wasting time or money. He implores the principals in court to hurry back from breaks so as to not "waste your tax money, or my tax money." He often points out how much it costs to try a case like USA vs. Clemens, and ultimately sets aside the audio-file issue on the grounds that it’s too expensive a problem and that it’s wasting important time. "If you haven’t noticed," he tells the bickering lawyers on both sides, "this is a country going broke."
Even without knowing the numbers -- the untold millions this trial will cost taxpayers -- many Americans sense that there’s something wrong here, that this might all be a witchhunt, an issue better-suited for Cooperstown voters than a federal jury. When the audio-file debate ends and jury-selection begins, and the huddled masses of potential jurors file into the courtroom, Judge Walton again acknowledges the times we live in -- cracking jokes about the Powerball jackpot.
