As bad as the current news is for Bushco and the Repugs in Congress, it seems they are making a series of missteps in reaction that may serve only to prolong and deepen their current malaise.
The combination of obstinacy and in-your-face politics they both employ and enjoy would appear to ensure a continuation of the disaffection they have recently engendered among Dems, Independents, and even their own base.
Cheney leads the charge. In response to Scooter (is that a bear in the cage?) Libby's indictment, he promotes David Addington and John Hannah, both of whom figure prominently in Fitzgerald's indictment saga. Further, Addington is up to his eyeballs in the entire torture scandal, the tide of which seems to be approaching Cheney's door (see diary here re:Wilkerson).
Our Dear Leader, not to be outdone in the stubborn-as-a-mule-and-almost-as-smart category, continues to send poor Li'l Scott McClellan out to feed the wolves with nothing in his hand except, well, you saw the Godfather, too. And he adamantly persists in stonewalling on the subject of the dear Turdblossom, even as staffers in his own White House leak their discomfort to the Washington Post.
The Republican leadership in Congress, not to be outdone, accomodates by permitting Roy Blunt to warm the seat of Tom DeLay. Turns out Roy himself was in on Tom's Money Laundering Extravaganza. He in turn responds by attempting to intimidate media outlets in his home state of Missouri.
And all the while the fetid stench of Abramoff oozes stronger and stronger through the halls of Congress. And, oh, yes, Safavian, Reed, and Norquist (kinda sounds like a corrupt law firm, huh?) are still waiting in the wings for their 15 minutes under the klieg lights.
With Dirty Harry in charge, maybe, just maybe, Fitzmas is the gift that keeps on giving after all.