And Speaking of "Shady Since Day One..."

One word: Wolfowitz.

On what other planet, in what other line of work, can you have your girlfriend promoted and compensated above her pay grade, and use the line that there were no rules governing such an action, so therefore you haven't broken any rules?

Cheney has called Wolfowitz "an able public servant." Nice. He's also an exceedingly able *personal* servant, isn't he? How nice of him to ensure his "companion" has a fat check and a sweet job. And how about the Bush administration lobbying hard to keep him as President? This white house just simply cannot get enough of failure. It is absolutely resolute in its support of ethically dubious "public servants" and morally dubious policies. It's like you have to rate high on a Myers-Briggs-style "Dishonesty and Arrogance" scale to get to the first round of a job interview with them. For the second round you have to renounce your religious faith and replace it with fealty to Bush, taking a vow of 'Vous Et Nul Autre.'

Wolfowitz screwed up. No matter how badly he wants to rewrite the rules--or pretend that somehow the lack of a specific rule saying, "the leader of this institution shall not ensure the income and job position of his girlfriend" absolves him--Wolfowitz needs to go.

But Bush will work to keep him, just as he is hanging on to Alberto Gonzalez against all good advice. Why? Because he's breathtakingly arrogant, stubborn and dare I say stupid. God forbid he announces a reversal in one of his lines of thought. God forbid he admit that some of his employees (I'm looking at you too, Goodling) are utter disgraces to American democracy. And why not admit it?

Because everyone knows that a fish stinks from the head down.