In a memorable scene from "Casablanca," actor Claude Rains plays a corrupt police chief ordered by the Germans to shut down a popular nightclub after patrons indulge in a disfavored patriotic song.

“But I have no excuse to close it!” protests Rains.

“Find one,” is the curt reply.

Rains orders everyone to leave immediately. When the nightclub’s owner Rick (played by the unforgettable Humphrey Bogart) demands to know “on what grounds,” Rains exclaims: “I’m shocked, shocked, to find that gambling is going on in here!” He then cordially thanks the staff member who hands him his night’s winnings.

In a similar show of manufactured outrage, executives at the National Alliance to End Homelessness filed a lawsuit September 11 in Rhode Island seeking to prevent the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development from implementing new criteria for its homelessness assistance grants.

“Both the process and substance of this new award process are shockingly unlawful,” claims the lawsuit. “The administration is leveraging federal funding to advance the president’s ideological vision.”

U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy recently

© The Hill