Say what you will about the one time deputy chief of staff and architect of George W Bush’s political career, but as coach use to say, the man is not lacking in testicular fortitude. Karl Rove I wager, sports a large and shiny pair to be sure. In response to a subpoena issued by the congress of the United States, he replied with the legal equivalent of “your not the boss of me”and declared on FOX, he will not even bother to show up. It’s a bold call out, and the ramifications are beyond the committee’s desire to learn what motivated the dismissal of U.S. Attorneys a couple years back.

Mr. Rove through his lawyer, revealed before leaving office President George W. Bush preached a new type of executive doctrine, seems at least according to Mr. Bush, a President may if he so deems it prudent, bestow on individuals the grace of preemptive immunity in perpetuity.

Prior to this newly discovered exercise of plenary power, Mr. Rove like any ordinary citizen would have been required to appear before congress. He could of course claim a particular question of the many they wished to ask, was protected under executive privilege, which would have had the consequence of lengthy judicial hearings, where appeals and successive magistrates of competent and higher authority, would have decided if the questions posed were protected under executive privilege. The problem with that route is time and money, mostly time because you see Mr. Rove is a busy man and spending so much time playing judicial games, would destract from enjoying the fruits of his labor,

The second tactic would be to simply exert his fifth amendment rights against self incrimination, always a popular strategy and very effective, but unlike say a reputed mobster, who doesn’t give a lick of spit about what people think of him, if your one of the people tasked to spend the next few years on the George W Bush legacy project, not so wise an approach.

Mindful of the fact I despise the politics and policy of the last administration, may I still applaud the political audacity of Mr. Bush’s actions and his unique interpretation of the still disputed doctrine of executive privilege, Truly it’s a brilliant gambit and I say that with the sincerity of someone who use to proffer his fair share of absurd arguments in moot court with earnest expectation of favorable reception.

For those who are not history geeks, Executive privilege as we know it today, was a minor concept some lawyer working for President Harry Truman bluffed up to distract the Morons of the McCarthy era and to this day no decent disciple of the law or respected constitutional scholar worth their salt will acknowledge it as kosher or even really constitutional.

But apparently George Bush, rather than issue a truck load of pardons to those who joined him in eight long years of treating the constitution as if it were oval office toilet paper, decided to attempt one final act of sheer balls to the wall political hubris and weave from whole cloth, a new and all encompassing definition of executive privilege that shielded not only the former president, but anyone he or she deems worthy to bless with this power of preemptive immunity.

At present the cases of Josh Bolten and Harriet Myers are grinding through the legal system, President Bush while in office, Claimed he could grant immunity to anyone on his staff, from having to even respond to a summons much less answer questions.

But what caught everyone by surprise, was the recent disclosure Mr Bush’s lawyer Fred Fielding wrote Mr. Rove and instructed him to ignore any future summons to appear or testify about issues related to his tenure at the white house, But the true cheery on this cake, was Mr. Rove’s request to the Obama administration to please have the white house counsel issue an opinion in support of the past Presidents redefinition of executive privilege, that request is the definition of Hut spa.That’s my view, yours may be different

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