The Hollow Men

"The White House has said publicly that they were not involved in adding or deleting people from the list." So sayeth the Attorney General in his testimony today -- repeatedly. (Dahlia Lithwick is a must-read.)

Oh, well, that settles it, then. How could I have missed such an all-important fact? The building at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue has spoken -- "publicly" -- and therefore there can't be any need to make inquiries of the actual human beings within that White House who we have been assuming were at the heart of the U.S. Attorney scandal.

Apart from the case of Bud Cummins (as to whom the AG testified that "a change was desired by the White House because they had identified a well-qualified individual that they wanted to have as a United States attorney"), if "the White House" was not involved in putting U.S. Attorneys such as David Iglesias on "the list," who was?

Not Gonzales.

Not McNulty.

Not Comey.

Not Battle.

Not Moschella.

Not Margolis.

Not Sampson.

Not Goodling. (?? This isn't yet confirmed -- could it be that Monica Goodling's is "the consensus view of the senior leadership of the Department"?)

Who knows . . . ?

The Shadow knows.

Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow