Think Progress has a report on a letter from Patrick Leahy to Fred Fielding in which he moves the goalposts again. Letter is here: http://thinkprogress.org/...
Leahy is giving the Whitehouse a new date of 8/21 since they missed the earlier date of 7/18. This part just seems kind of sad:
I look forward to compliance with the Judiciary Committee’s June 27, 2007 subpoenas to the White House Office, the Office of the Vice President, the National Security Council, and the Department of Justice.
I look forward to it, too, but I don’t really expect it. Please excuse me - I don’t understand Washington ways very well and am not conversant with the arcana of how this whole thing works, but it does seem to me that when people blow you off you really have to do more than simply offer the same cheek. Really, at least, turn and offer them another cheek.
What is it that my poor understanding of all of this is missing? Why does this happen over and over? I have read all the comments on how everything has to be done in an orderly way and how Leahy is dotting every i and crossing every t, but does it ever go beyond punctuation?
I'm just very, very confused. Is it possible that this is some kind of gambit meant to somehow apply more pressure on the Whitehouse? They don't bow to oversight pressure, public sentiment doesn't sway them; what will work here?