Read Amanda’s post. Can this site, with its high quality music snobbery skills, outdo her pronouncement that the death of Kurt Cobain was the moment that began the decline of American society over the 90s?

From digby:

Finally, there is the most important and indisputable fact that Bush and Cheney will never be convicted in the Senate. This isn’t the GOP of 1974 and they will never cross over in enough numbers. They won’t do it even if video tapes of Bush personally giving hush money to Scooter Libby turn up. Let’s not kid ourselves about that reality. The fact is that impeachment will probably bring their caucus together.

Digby is tragically right. The republicans have become an authoritarian party, as has their critically important base. They don’t care about issues, ideology or anything other than doing as they are told. The republicans in the congress will fall into line behind their own with few politicical consequences. The fact that Guiliani is ahead in fundraising and the polls while failing every single “values voter” litmus test proves that no issue is more important for the republican base than doing what they are told and waving the flag.

So now I understand what Bush was talking about back in 2004:

If the person has violated law, that person will be taken care of.

When he said “taken care of” we all thought he meant “prosecuted to the fullest extend of the law” when he actually meant “protected from the consequences of their actions.