Just when you thought the comparisons to Nixon were overblown ...
Thursday, May 25, 2006 at 1:12PM ARTICLE: "Return of Jefferson Files Is Sought: Bipartisan Request Sent to Justic Dept.," by Shailagh Murray and Allan Lengel, Washington Post, 25 May 2006, p. A1.
REPORT: "Bush Orders Documents From F.B.I. Raid Sealed," AP, New York Times, found online at their webpage
The details of this case notwithstanding, it was extremely bad judgment for any arm of the Executive Branch to treat a member of Congress in the way that William Jefferson has been treated.
This one really crosses a line that quickly get everybody's back up againt the wall on the Hill, so I'm really puzzled by why the Bush White House is letting this one continue to simmer in full public view.
You can say Bush's decision today is designed to cool things off, but frankly, I just see it giving his opponents 45 days to work the subject in the mass media.
To me, it's just another detail in an otherwise odd pattern of political self-destruction. Bush's collapsing presidency reminds me of Newt Gingrinch's self-destruction. As soon as they start celebrating your "genius" in the Post Style section, I used to tell my wife while living in DC, your fate is sealed, because what gets artificially pumped up (the "genius" of Rove and the White House machinery in getting re-elected by a mere 40k margin in Ohio) eventually gets aggressively deflated. And like Gingrich, the Bush team is strangely compliant in their own demise.
Reader Comments (3)
While I generally agree with your posts, I have to say that I'm rather shocked and puzzled by this one. On all counts, the Bush Administration has gotten this one right.
(1) Legally: Bush has these guys dead to rights. There's no Constitutional or Statutory cover for the legislators disputing this search.
(2) Politically (Interbranch): De minimis loss at most. Bush has a few legislators publicly shouting over this one, but is there any real loss to the Bush Administration? Certainly not on the Democrat side of the ledger. As for the Republican side of the ledger, perhaps Bush loses a little bit, but do you *really* think that either house of Congress (particularly Bush's base in the House) will actually retaliate in any way?
(3) Politically (General Public): No loss here. This is a slam dunk in the public opinion.
Perhaps you're buying too much into your "Lame Duck Bush" theme this week. It's a heck of a hammer, but honestly, this story is in no way a nail.
Ah, but you forget the Abramoff angle, which eventually may well be traced to the White House. What if the "slam dunk" involves pro-actively protecting the White House? The search for fall guys on the lobbying scandal is real, just as with the Libby situation.
Well, I'm a bit late considering how far down the blog this post has gone, but another interesting take on Bush Admin. (specifically Snow/Paulson switch) from The Agonist:
http://agonist.org/stirling_newberry/20060530/summer_snow
Key notion: "Fresh credibility to burn"
The lame-ducks are stuck in a rut, grabbing whatever fuel they can to keep the engine running--but they aren't really going anywhere. We need to be moving right now, formulating creative solutions to the problems just around the corner. We're somewhere within a rule-set shift right now on both the local (US) and global scale. Every day that passes is a lost opportunity to shape the coming century.
/begin pessimism
And one of the implications of the Bush Admin's current mode of operation does worry me. What if they actually see military action against Iran as an acceptable policy choice in the near future? As more fuel to keep their engine running, even if they lack the power to become unstuck? Sugar in the gas tank anyone?
/end pessimism