To boldly go...

where no man has gone before.

I'm reminded of a Josh Marshall post from a bit ago:

I've said this before. But perhaps it seems like hyperbole. So I'll say it again. The president's interests are now radically disjoined from the country's. We can handle a setback like Iraq. It really is a big disaster. But America will certainly survive it. President Bush -- in the sense of his legacy and historical record -- won't. It's all Iraq for him. And Iraq is all disaster. So, from his perspective (that is to say, through the prism of his interests rather than the country's -- which he probably can't separate) reckless gambits aimed at breaking out of this ever-tightening box make sense. Think of it like this. He's a death row prisoner concocting a thousand-to-one plan to break out of prison. For him, those are good odds. The rest of us are doing three months for disorderly conduct. And he's trying to rope us into his harebrained scheme. Like I said, his interests are very different from ours.

I'm thinking about that post as I consider the US Attorney scandal. I think that this is another area where Bush's interests are diametrically opposed to the country's. I suspect he needs to keep the country in the dark about what has been going on because the politicalization of the DOJ is bad, but what is still out there is obstruction of justice, interfering with a federal investigation, and good old fashioned corruption. If the investigations start, then maybe some of this comes out. And if some of this comes out, then more of it comes out, then ALL of it comes out. And when that happens, he's finished, no more Iraq policy, no nothing. He's known as the president who lied us into war, drove our finances towards ruin, and presided over the most corrupt establishment in the history of the country.

So he's going to fight. I don't think Gonzalez is going anywhere if he hasn't already. Earlier I thought they'd rid themselves of him but who would they get in his place? They'd have to nominate someone who can be approved by a Democratic-controlled Congress so no Republican patsies need apply. Anyone they put in would likely uncover as much malfeasance as Congressional investigations. So you leave Gonzalez in office to fight for his job and to keep himself and his bosses out of prison.

You also hit back hard. Like this from Tony Snow today:

The executive branch is under no compulsion to testify to Congress, because Congress in fact doesn't have oversight ability. So what we’ve said is we’re going to reach out to you – we’ll give you every communication between the White House, the Justice Department, the Congress, anybody on the outside, any kind of communication that would indicate any kind of activity outside, and at the same time, we’ll make available to you any of the officials you want to talk to …knowing full well that anything they said is still subject to legal scrutiny, and the members of Congress know that.

Congress doesn't have oversight ability? Really? I'm starting to fear that the administration will pull the temple down on top of themselves in an effort to avoid accountability. They are wounded right now and they are very dangerous.