Metapost on the US Attorneys
All I keep thinking as I watch the White House struggle into their politically costly defensive crouch on the US attorneys is that whatever truth (or appearance) they fear coming out must certainly be worse than the damage they are taking now.
The White House "looks guilty" in what they're doing, and they must know it, but I would argue they're doing what they're doing out of a political calculation not out of some vague principle of executive power.
Their willingness to take all this damage on this US Attorney story tells me that there definitely is a discoverable "horrible truth" out there somewhere, a truth which would cause far worse than the damage they're taking now, and they believe that "horrible truth" could in fact be discovered, so they're stonewalling.
My antennae are tingling.
The White House "looks guilty" in what they're doing, and they must know it, but I would argue they're doing what they're doing out of a political calculation not out of some vague principle of executive power.
Their willingness to take all this damage on this US Attorney story tells me that there definitely is a discoverable "horrible truth" out there somewhere, a truth which would cause far worse than the damage they're taking now, and they believe that "horrible truth" could in fact be discovered, so they're stonewalling.
My antennae are tingling.
posted by mikevotes at
8:44 AM
2 Comments:
This WH is known for a few things
1. Fanatical devotion to the idea of the emperor-president -- and possibly a sense of divine ordination.
2. Unshakable belief in their won infallibility and sociopathic ambivalence toward facts, truth.
3. Undying lust for power manifest in loyalty to party over country, and to self over party.
Thus, an administration (indeed, a human being) with no working understanding of accountability -- having forever dealt with rubber stamp yes-men and stooges -- lashes out like a chained bear when forced to account for itself.
By
-epm, at 10:51 AM
To your broader point, I think the idea of them having a tin ear to their reactions is pretty valid. After all that time of a compliant Congress, this is a real shift.
(I'd be really curious to hear the tone of the internal discussions. Does Bush sound imperial, "How dare those bastards....")
At this point I don't see them fighting for executive privilege/presidential power just for those who will follow them.
I probably alos should add to this post 2 more elements.
1) The "horrible truth" may not be in the US Attorneys thing. They might be simply trying to establish the ground rules for some later likely investigation.
2) Their defense might be aimed at their base alone. In the political calculation of legacy, the base is extremely important.
If that's the case, however, I find it odd they would fight here with so little Republican support for Gonzales.
By
mikevotes, at 11:11 AM
Post a Comment
<< Home