hyp, hyp hypocrisy

Whatever happened to all that devotion Republicans used to howl about over the rule of law?

Ann Coulter, Kelly-Ann Whatever-Her-Name-Is-This-Month, Christopher “The Big Snitch” Hitchins and the rest of the Republican Prize Patrol spent endless hours telling Chris Matthews, Geraldo Rivera and the rest of the chattering class anchors that The Rule Of Law is sacred in this country, and that was the reason the had, Had, HAD to pursue Bill Clinton through impeachment and have hectored him regularly since leaving office.

Of course, the fact that the rule of law they were crowing about was lodged firmly in a gray area AND concerned a private sexual encounter made no difference, they said. They were devoted to the law and must pursue all those who break it.

So where do they stand now that their president, George W. Bush, admitted breaking the law to pursue a domestic spying operation that runs all of our telephone and Internet traffic through NSA computers in a vain search for terrorists?

To paraphrase Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, the president may have been wrong, but his heart is pure. Specter, by the way, is a former prosecutor. I seriously doubt he ever let a defendant walk because, although they broke the law, their heart was pure.

It’s Bullshit. It was Bullshit when they impeached Bill Clinton over a blowjob, and it’s bullshit now that they are backing an unrepentant alcoholic with anger management problems who currently resides in this country’s most opulent public housing.

Of course, if there’s bullshit to be spread, you can expect the vice president to be in the middle of it all.

Dick “Bulls-eye” Cheney was in Wisconsin to contend that the domestic spying program is legal under the war powers congress gave the president, although there has been no such determination made by any legal authority outside the West Wing of the White House. But the Bush Administration’s modus aperandi always has been to keep parroting the party line as if it were true and eventually someone, somewhere might actually believe the lie.

Senator Russ Feingold started the ball rolling on Senate censure of the President of the United States for conducing his illegal domestic eavesdropping campaign.

Go Russ, Go.

Of course, those Republicans so dedicated to the rule of law already have scoffed at Feingold. Sadly, Democrats have not exactly beaten a path to get behind the junior senator from Wisconsin.

Meanwhile, Bush’s poll numbers continue to freefall, now at a new low of 36 percent according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll out today.

More soon.