I ask because it appears that current doctrine draws a wide circle around a small concern, namely, that there will be a paucity of candid advice available to the president because all qualified advisors feel threatened by later publication of their counsels.

If the privileged conversations pertained to, say, scientific secrets whose release would plausibly be detrimental to the safety of the country, wouldn’t ordinary classification and secret clearance law apply, without the necessity of raising the specter of an embarrassed Edward Teller clone lurking in the shadows?

On the other hand, suppose I go in and advise the president to bomb Paris, or to bring back debtor’s prison, or to take some other stupid, illegal course of action.

My conversation with Junior becomes the subject of a Congressional subpoena, which is enforced, and I later get skewered in the press for making such a revolting suggestion. Then, as a result of my traumatic humiliation and subsequent shunning by all humankind, I flatly refuse to make any further recommendations at all.

In the end the president is left waiting by the phone, stymied by my recalcitrance while the nation’s business languishes on the sidelines. (Slow fade to black.)

I don’t get it. To prevent this terrifying national threat, we are supposed to reinstate the monarchy?

What’s all this talk about a “URINARY executive theory” and conservatives?

Hey, they got restrooms in the White House, don’t they? And if they don’t by now, all the executives in the executive branch can just go pee behind a bush in the Rose Garden?

Unless, of course, this conservative “URINARY executive theory” refers to President Bush and Vice President Cheney pissing on everyone and even pissing on the Constitution?

What? What?!?!?

Unitary executive theory?

Well, that’s an entirely different matter, isn’t it?

Neeevveerr Mind.

Christy Hardin Smith — our own Tom Paine.

Ed*ard Teller @ 213

Christy Hardin Smith @ 16

…
The sooner we can get specifics on Rove’s use of these avenues of communication, clearly outside the realm of executive privilege, the sooner we can get to the bottom of this. If Rove knew enough way back in 2002 to meet Jack Abramoff only in car exchange meetups in the alleys of DC, he was way into this kind of MO for other ops and communications … .

If Rove etal were using non-WH domains such as gwb43, does anyone know if Fitz’s Plamegate subpoenas & investigations included these & if any/which records were supplied??

THIS may be the biggest key … analgous to the discover of Nixon’s White House taping system. Do any of the legals here know if these outside (RNC) servers CAN be claimed to be protected by executive privelege?

Well, there’s still Congress and the ‘Will of the Public’ we can hope will get in the way of Dubya and his wrecking crew.

BTW, I don’t like the Bush admin. people, but cancer is in no way justice.

Consider. Any fight over enforcing subpoenas would find its way first to the federal district court for DC. Any decision would be appealed to the DC Circuit.

Consider, two recent appointments by Bush to the DC Circuit. Janice Brown and Brett Kavanaugh.

Janice Brown, famous for being a conservative activist judge on the Texas Supreme Court, whom even Alberto Gonzales thinks went overboard. Brett Kavanaugh, whose principal prior duties were first, as an aide to Ken Starr, second, as a WH gofer shuffling judicial appointments through the Senate confirmation process.

Who might they be inclined to favor in a fight over separation of powers and executive privilege? Mr. Rove thinks is always fighting tomorrow’s battles today. He thinks Sun Tzu was an amateur.

Most obvious and incessant is the call to support the troops while hacking at the VA, refusing to equip the fungible grunt, etc., to ask why their opponents hate Amurka’s (liberal-democratic) freedoms, to rend their blood-stained cloaks and cry to the heavens, Who could have known death could come from a clear blue sky?

As repugnant as all this is, and is to hear, there is one compensation, at least — that thereby they tend to telegraph their punches.

It’s a minor point, but here they speak of “show trials”. But under the Bushite DoJ, this is precisely the ground they were preparing for themselves, and the pre-empted rhetorical position of their future victims.