More on intelligence

The GOP misstep in calling for a bicameral investigation of the leak of the existence of gulags secret CIA torture prisons will become wonderfully clear over the next few days and weeks, I suspect. Frist among their problems will be the fact that such investigations are very uncommon, less than a half dozen having been conducted ever, according to the Post. That the GOP are interested in such a serious crackdown for letting out information on something that so clearly shames them and the president signals that they're worried more about image and politics than the ethical behavior of the United States. They've handed the Democrats the moral high ground on a silver platter.

Next on the list of problems this will cause for our ruling party is that investigating this sort of thing will allow Democrats to push for other, more obviously necessary investigations, such as why we even have these secret torture prisons, and even the intelligence flaws that lead to the war in Iraq. Pelosi has jumped already:

"There is plenty to investigate about the Bush administration's use and misuse of intelligence," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). "The American people deserve the truth."

To their credit, some Republicans have and will get on the right side of this. Chris Shays is one calling for investigation of the jails themselves as a condition of exploring the leak. Good for him, and Lindsey Graham, too. However, the leadership as a whole has been caught off guard by the whole slip-up, it seems, and we're about to watch them crash and burn.

But then there's the killer sentence of the letter itself which surely can be used to show the Congressional leaders as condemning the Bush Administration:

"The leaking of classified information by employees of the United States government appears to have increased in recent years, establishing a dangerous trend that, if not addressed swiftly and firmly, likely will worsen," the letter states.

And to that we have to add Scott McClellan's Ironotastic comment:

"The leaking of classified information is a serious matter and ought to be taken seriously," he told reporters.

Any Washington spin doctor of competence should be able to handily crucify Rove with those comments.

This, friends, is a party in chaos.