how did Ronny Cox's character in 'Total Recall' put it?.....ah, yes

"Fuck 'em"

Time to let Shrub twist in the wind a little....

-5.75,-4.05 "I am in earnest; I will not equivocate; I will not excuse; I will not retreat a single inch; and I will be heard."
William Lloyd Garrison
US abolitionist & editor (1805 - 1879)

Bush's response to most criticism is to dig in deeper before giving in, even when that comes from allies.

I think this will continue to escalate, because Bush won't back down.

Remember, the AG is the person who decides whether or not to proceed with charges in cases where someone blows off a Congressional subpoena. If Bush is really serious about this, impeachment (possibly of Gonzales) is the only rememedy.

like a bad case of little man syndrome. "I won't back down bacause if I do it makes me a loser". What a scum sucking wanker.

"I beseech you in the bowels of christ think it possible you may be mistaken."`

A defiant President Bush warned Democrats Tuesday to accept his offer to have top aides testify about the firings of federal prosecutors only privately and not under oath or risk a constitutional showdown from which he would not back down.

AP

Bush is inviting a constitutional crisis, in fact, daring the Dems to create one. This can only work against the GOP and for the Dems if handled correctly. The idea isn't to "win" a legal battle, it's to keep the scandals on the front page along with Iraq for the rest of the Bushie's term. The war is already putting enormous pressure on GOP candidates up for election in '08. The scandals are simply compounding the problem for them. They just want it all to go away. If the Dem turn up the burners and Bush won't take away the heat, they'll abandon him like rats leaving sinking ship.

The nation's most secretive administration decides to publish thousands of emails on an internal White House matter. The emails contain a clear link between Karl Rove and the political wing of the administration (is there any other wing of this administration?) to the dismissal of eight federal attorneys. All of these attorneys, coincidentally, were engaged in high profile investigations of Republican lawmakers, or they have declined to pursue Republican claims of voter fraud. In some cases, if the investigations come to a halt, it must be wondered whether the White House is engaged in an obstruction of justice.

So again, why would an administration obsessed with its own secrets reveal potentially incriminating evidence? We have lots of options:

a) There are deeper, darker, more incriminating secrets being protected.

b) There are no more secrets. The administration was following the advice of scandal experts and Republican congressmen who were arguing to get all the facts out now.

c) The Mayberry Machiavellis are politically tone deaf and perhaps legally incompetent. They don't care what the public thinks of the information and they simply weren't aware that firing federal prosecutors in the middle of sensitive investigations could be construed as criminal.

d) The administration is incompetent. While Bush was off traveling in Latin America, Rove, Gonzales and maybe Cheney try to stamp out a growing political controversy. Bush returns and digs in his heels, refusing any further meaningful cooperation with Congress.

The answer is probably e), all of the above. Why should this administration be any better at handling political scandals than it has been at waging war or responding to natural disasters? Tone deaf, incompetent, parochial, power-obsessed, insular, and arrogant - these are the characteristics of an administration the American public has written off and tuned out.

Too bad. The dismissal of federal attorneys mid-stream in their work is a gravely serious matter, prone to political mischief, and liable to undermine respect for the impartiality of the Justice Department. The public should pay attention. If Richard Nixon had chosen to fire a certain Baltimore federal prosecutor investigating bribery and tax evasion, Spiro Agnew would have been president, not Gerald Ford.

There are portentous reasons why justice must appear to be blind if it isn't always blind in actual fact. The Bush administration has shown a ruthless disregard for appearance and fact when it comes to justice. Let us hope that Bush's stonewalling, bravado, and denial is met with - at least just this once - a determined and resilient Congress willing to fight for principle.

What 'good information'?

God, I can't stand that man....

and how it's being solemnly invoked now by some of the same folks who berated Clinton for abusing it.

The president's oh-so-noble reliance on "executive privilege"

In 1998, when Bill Clinton invoked it, "executive privilege" was a cynical and corrupt tool to prevent Americans from learning the truth about scandal and keep the President above the law. In 2007, now that George Bush has invoked it (and it's hardly the first time, but this time it will likely be tested), it will be a doctrine of the gravest importance and steeped in our most cherished democratic traditions and it must be defended at all costs in order to preserve the Power and Honor of the Presidency.

_{"Damn right it's loaded, it makes a lousy club."}