Fissures

Another Bush party-liner splits off from the monolith:

The Republican Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee F. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) has issued 51 questions to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on President Bush's warrantless wiretap program.

The letter, issued to Gonzales today and acquired by RAW STORY, demands answers to myriad legal questions on the program, which involved eavesdropping on Americans' calls overseas. Sensenbrenner has given Gonzales a Mar. 2 deadline to respond.

First Wilson, now Sensenbrenner.

Same rule applies for the Dems with either of these two, though: Make full use of the opportunity they're providing--exploit it to the fullest--but don't even consider trusting them. Sensenbrenner likes nothing more than to work up an appetite for breakfast by crushing a few Democrats' stones.

(Same with Grover Norquist, as long as we're on the subject.)

(Special bonus fissure: Michael "Heck-of-a-Job" Brown is now apparently willing to publicly shake down the president to save his own sorry, incompetent hide. Not as important as a defection by Wilson or Sensenbrenner, I would imagine, but pretty amusing all the same. I suppose, really, that's the advantage of being feckless but connected: Yes, you can get appointed to jobs you're utterly unqualified for and be exposed to the world as a buffoon, but when it really hits the fan and you have to find someone well-connected to threaten in self-defense, you're in a much more target-rich environment.)