Getting no respect

What is it about the Bush administration that leads even the best conservative to disrespect the rule of law? We're speaking, of course, of today's refusal by new Attorney General Michael Mukasey, a former judge, to tell Congress about the progress of government investigations into the interrogations of terror suspects that videotaped by the CIA. The videotapes, which reportedly showed the use of harsh questioning techniques, were destroyed in 2005 over the objections of ranking members of Congress. Mukasey told the House and Senate judiciary committees, which oversee the Justice Department, that revealing details about the investigations could raise questions about whether they were vunlerable to political pressure. "I am aware of no facts at present to suggest that department attorneys cannot conduct this inquiry in an impartial manner," Mukasey wrote to Sens. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, according to the Associated Press. Lawmakers from both parties also accused the Justice Department of obstructing a House Intelligence Committee inquiry by advising the CIA against cooperating.