Republicans continue to devour their own

It's old news that Karl Rove has denounced all liberals or Democrats--for him, the words are interchangeable insults--as being pro-terrorist.

And I've already mentioned Cheney attacking fellow Republican Chuck Hagel as pro-terrorist or insufficiently pro-Bush (again, the insults are interchangeable).

But it gets better.

Now anti-tax fanatic Grover Norquist, whose power over human souls diminishes as he enters the sunlight, is attacking "the two girls from Maine and the nut-job from Arizona"--that would be Senators Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe and John McCain, respectively--for defying the Bush party line on judicial filibusters.

This is fascinating to watch, of course, in a scorpions-in-a-bottle kind of way.

It's also interesting from a tactical viewpoint. The Bush administration is notorious for demanding absolute loyalty from its people, even as it retains the option to humiliate and discard them when it becomes politically expedient to do so (ask Colin Powell). Bush himself spent much of his idle years during the Bush I administration as the White House Loyalty Enforcer for his dad (ask John Sununu).

But it's never been their style to openly attack people ostensibly on their own team. Attack, when necessary--yes. Attack openly--no. Even the most vile of smears are routinely jobbed out to entities that appear to be at arm's length beyond Bush's inner circle (ask John McCain).

Historically, the BushCo motto has been "leave no fingerprints behind." What does it mean that they're doing the wet work themselves, in full view of the public?

The word "desperation" leaps to mind.