Bush Administration Corruption: The Political Gift That Keeps On Giving

Remember how, just a couple of months ago, Democrats were debating whether or not they should use their new majorities in Congress to investigate wrong-doing by the Bush administration, or, instead, keep their focus on the future and avoid getting bogged down in recriminations over the past?

Well, it turns out that the argument is moot. It looks as though Congress will have its hands full investigating brand-new scandals and malfeasance by the administration. Just in the past two days, Congress has been holding hearings into the firing of U.S. attorneys who apparently weren't strongly enough motivated to tailor their investigations to political ends, as well as hearings into the Walter Reed veterans' care scandal.

Coming next (if current headlines are any guide): a probe into administration twisting of intelligence to justify a hard line against North Korea (which backfired by making it possible for the Koreans to create their first nuclear bombs); a probe into more administration twisting of intelligence, this time to justify a possible future war against Iran; and hearings on the overstretched, underprepared status of the US military, which the current "surge" in Iraq is only going to exacerbate.

Looks as though the Democrats don't have to do much digging into the past to discover Republican misdeeds to criticize--the only problem may be finding enough hearing rooms for all the investigations that their current shenanigans demand.

Tags: Congressional oversight, U.S. attorneys, Walter Reed, North Korea, Iran