Look! Over there! Something shiny!

White House Assault on Bill Keller and Times is Just Bluster for the Boneheads:

So this is kind of strange, then. Both Snow and Dick Cheney have explicitly said that the Times has put the nation's security at risk -- and presumably they think the paper continues to do so, since it won't back off its right to publish such stories. Yet by all indications the administration is unlikely to take any real action against the paper, mainly because it would be politically disastrous for Bush.

That leaves only two possibilities. Either:

1) Officials won't act aggressively against an institution they're claiming puts American lives at risk, because it's politically untenable. That would mean the administration is putting politics ahead of aggressively prosecuting behavior it says endangers American lives.

Or:

2) The administration doesn't genuinely believe The Times has put our national security at risk at all, and hence won't act. If this is the case, both Snow and Cheney blatantly and repeatedly lied.

So there you have it. Either the administration is putting politics ahead of national security and won't act aggressively against an institution it says is endangering American lives -- because it would be bad for Bush. Or the administration's claim that The Times endangered national security is just the latest in a long string of lies it has told to the American people. Which is it?

The answer, of course, is number two.

That pretty much sums it up, except for the fact that this administration consistently places politics over everything else, including our national security and they also consistently lie. Hence, it could be both.

The thing that scares me most is the Cheney Bush administration's contempt for the constitutional principles that have held this country together, and made it so strong. Rather than uphold his oath of office (emphasis mine):

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Cheney Bush has instead done everything possible to undermine the Constitution and has nurtured a steady progression towards fascism:

A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.

But, what really galls me is that all this bluster about the NYT being treasonous is just a ruse to change the subject, which was that the administration is, once again, abusing its authority and violating the constitutional right to privacy, all in the name of fighting terrorism. every idiot on the planet knows that the government is monitoring all transactions over $10,000. However, the revelation was not the monitoring, it was the lack of oversight. Instead of the FBI monitoring the financial transactions, the administration has instead chosen to share the data with the CIA, where there exists no oversight. However, by changing th subject to be all about how mean and nasty and america-hating the NYT and its editors are, the major revelations have faded into oblivion... just as Rove knew it would.

Jan 21, 2009 cannot come soon enough for me.

Had enough, yet?