We have three branches of government:
The Executive
- where I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby has just resigned as a result of being indicted on five counts, including perjury and obstruction of justice in an investigation into the leak of the name of an undercover CIA agent,
- Mike Brown recently resigned as director of FEMA after a disastrous federal response to the aftermath of Class 5 hurricane Katrina,
- David Safavian, former head of procurement policy for the White House, was arrested (and subsequently resigned) and accused of obstruction of justice in an investigation into the misdeeds of Jack Abramoff (see Legislative below),
- Lester Crawford abruptly resigned as the head of the FDA,
- Timothy Flanigan withdrew his name from consideration for appointment to Deputy Attorney General after it was revealed that he had a connection to — guess who — Jack Abramoff,
- and which uses the likes of Tom Noe, who was recently indicted for money laundering, as its fundraising Pioneers.
The Legislative
- where Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is under investigation for possible SEC violations,
- former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has been indicted for money laundering after much ballyhoo about his relationship to embattled lobbyist Jack Abramoff,
- and Dick Cunningham was wheeling and dealing like the best (the rest?) of ‘em.
The Judicial
- where Harriet Miers recently withdrew as Bush’s nominee to the Supreme Court after invoking a firestorm of criticism from Bush’s right flank rather than his left.
And, according to recent polls, the American people think that the Valerie Plame scandal is revelatory of broader ethical wrongdoing within the Bush administration.
Can we start over, or what? We had our accountability moment, and it sucked. The rest of the “movement” conservatives don’t seem to be faring so well, either.
