03.24.07
Relax, Sen. John Cornyn’s getting to the bottom of the purge scandal
Sen. John Cornyn, posturing:
Earlier Friday, a staunch White House ally, Sen. John Cornyn, summoned White House counsel Fred Fielding to Capitol Hill and told him he wanted “no surprises.”
“I told him, ‘Everything you can release, please release. We need to know what the facts are,”’ Cornyn said.
Talk about split loyalties. Cornyn has been a “good Bushie” for at least a dozen years, repeatedly proving his zeal for defending Bush. But this time, it is Cornyn’s own political fortune twisting in the gale of scandal.
This could have been a quiet little obstruction of justice. A well-timed promotion here, an extended leave-of-absence there, a resignation by an “exhausted” United States Attorney to “spend more time with family” would have achieved the desired retardant effect on the prosecutorial flames scorching the Republicans’ plans for perpetual rule. Had it not been for Gonzalez’ spectacular mismanagement of the prosecutor purge, this entire scandal may never have risen to this level of high crimes and misdemeanors.
Now, Cornyn launches himself headlong, driven by competing loyalties to Bush and himself. Cornyn wants the truth suppressed about who ordered which USAs fired and why. He doesn’t “need to know what the facts are.” He just wants the job of obstructing justice done right. No more “slow bleed” of damning emails; glaringly obvious gaps in the timeline; or forgetting to release an email that was addressed to a Democrat.
Now that Cornyn’s been exposed scurrying to clamp the lid back down on the cookie jar, his response is to act like he’s a champion of full disclosure. Rest assured, Cornyn’s proximity to this scandal is no accident. He is looking after his own political hide. And when caught doing that, he postures uncomfortably.
We can deal with John Cornyn serving the Bushies. We’ve come to expect that from him. But it is his loyalty to his own interests that makes him just another greedy, corrupt Republican who has overstayed his welcome and violated the public’s trust for too long. It’s time for John Cornyn to go. Now.