I hadn't heard the incredible news that Blakeman had stepped down either. And I was in-country the whole time.

I've tried to remedy this by scanning their website, and was amazed to see that only one press release was issued by the organization in March, and this said absolutely nothing about Mr. Blakeman's rapid (and apparently very quiet) removal from "Freedom's Watch". Similarly, there was only one press release issued in Februrary, and that was done by Mr. Blakeman itself, so apparently everything was tidy and ship-shape at that time.

The single March communication from "Freedom's Watch" discusses the hiring of a Mr. Forti, who had enjoyed an impressive but failed career as a minor operative in Mr. Romney's ill-fated campaign for president. Prior to that, Mr. Forti ran expenditures for the Republican National Congressional Committee, it seems.

http://www.freedomswatch.org/Edit/PressReleases/tabid/45/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/170/Default.aspx

I seem to have read something about the NRCC about this same time:

F.B.I. Investigates Missing G.O.P. Money

By PHILIP SHENON

Published: March 6, 2008

WASHINGTON — Hundreds of thousands of dollars are missing and presumed stolen from the chief fund-raising arm of House Republicans, according to party officials who described the findings of emergency internal audits.

The financial records of the group, the National Republican Congressional Committee, may also have been falsified for several years, Republican officials said. The campaign committees of several Republican lawmakers may also have been victims of a scam that is now under criminal investigation by the F.B.I.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/06/washington/06gop.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

As can be seen, there is no mention of Mr. Blakeman in any of this, either. But it seems Mr. Forti may have left the NRCC "Expenditures" gig during some very exciting and challenging times there.

We love to focus on Rove, or Mukasey, or Addington, or any number of other 'higher-profile' administration figures. But I hope it's also worth noting that DOJ has been following a chronic policy of feeding right-wing ideologues into every level of DOJ. Literally from the intern program at the bottom, through US Attorneys, to the highest levels, the Department has been soaked in ideology, stooges, political operatives. Those who wouldn't play along were gone. The administration has done this in a way that is clearly designed to perpetuate the kinds of policy and radical theories of justice and governance that characterize the last 8 years.

I don't see how this can be fixed without a systematic purge. Every hire, every staffer, every intern brought in under Bush II should be reviewed, and replaced if nessessary. Otherwise, this administration achieves yet another of its goals, even while packing up and leaving office.

One might well say the same of other departments, including military departments, but Justice would be a critical place to start.

"Daughters"

.

I'm a man who's rich in daughters,

And if by some wild chance I get rich in money,

Like say another two thou a year or even one thou a year,

I'm gonna look in to havin' some more daughters.

.

One is long and one is short,

One is thin and one is stout.

In the morning when they wake,

Only one's breakfast can I make.

.

One dances and knows

how many squares hopscotch ought to have.

One goes wah, wah, wah, wah, wah,

wah, wah, wah, wah, ha ha, wah wah.

.

One won't eat anything much,

I guess she lives on air and sun and noodles.

One's beginnin' to learn that the milk is over there

inside of that shirt beneath the blue eyes of the woman I love.

.

(Chorus)

I'm a man who's rich in daughters,

And if by some wild chance I get rich in money,

Like say another two thou a year or even one thou a year,

I'm gonna look in to havin' some more daughters.

.

When my daughter who is tall now was not so tall,

One night we were drivin' home in the truck and I was sad

because I was busted and disgusted,

And she looked out the window and said, "Dad, the moon is comin' home with us."

She said, "Dad, the moon is comin' home with us."

.

And in the morning they magic the house,

The one that can walk, walks in warm and still dreamin' to give

me a hug or ask why it's so cold or why is there school,

"Why's it so cold?" or "Why is there school?"

And the one who can't walk or talk yet just lies in bed and laughs,

She just lies in bed and laughs.

---Greg Brown (Iowa Waltz)

I just saw that piece, and Waxman's response. One wonders if this kind of thing is not encouraged by weakness shown by Dem. Leadership in Congress on so many other matters. Waxman is now saying things like "even the Vice President is not above the law". Stuff like that must make Addington smile. He's heard it all before, and knows that Congress doesn't actually mean what they say.

Weakness may be begetting more weakness...

gun-rights advocates frequently employ that "doomsday" sort of argument as a benefit of gun ownership (sometimes joking, sometimes not). My own stance on that is that I'm not convinced I'd want to exist in an environment where total breakdown has occured, and guns were the only law and order left.

Put another way, once guns become indispensable, it's already too late, and we're all screwed, whether we own guns or not.

Greenwald's sad, depressing summary of Executive radical-extreemism again highlights the importance of keeping McCain from the Oval Office, and stopping the flow of un-american, authoritarian judges to all federal benches, not just the Supreme Court.

The judiciary appears to be under assault, and hopefully an Obama administration would allow some badly-needed liberal (or at least centrist/moderate) judges to begin entering the system at all levels.

When choosing the next president, the appointment of judges is nearly as important a factor as a quick end to the Iraq war one would think.