Fitzmas Eve?
The word is that indictments are coming--probably tomorrow.

An uber-insider source has just reported the following to TWN:

1. 1-5 indictments are being issued. The source feels that it will be towards the higher end.

2. The targets of indictment have already received their letters.

3. The indictments will be sealed indictments and "filed" tomorrow.

4. A press conference is being scheduled for Thursday.

The shoe is dropping.

The rumor from earlier today, first aired by Raw Story, was that "at least" two indictments were coming; wonder if the source is the same. I probably trust Clemons slightly more than Raw Story, but we're all in the dark here.

Perhaps showing the aftereffects from years of disappointment and pain (a trauma I know well; I'm a Phillies phan), lefties at Daily Kos and elsewhere seemed to be a bit crestfallen about the low number. What I think they miss in this analysis is that the process works over time; we've become so conditioned by 24-hour news and the whole apparatus of real-time information to want things quickly. But the real value here is twofold, and neither corresponds to a quick outcome:

1. Political: This erodes the credibility and functionality of the White House and the whole corrupt right-wing apparatus. They're distracted, they have no political capital to draw upon, they can't bring good people into the administration (putting aside whether the dimwit-in-chief gives a rat's ass about doing so), and they can't recruit quality candidates for other races. The media grows ever more skeptical, and starts to see the percentage in challenging, rather than parroting what comes out of the West Wing.

2. Institutional: Ultimately, whether or not wrongdoing is exposed and punished is more important to the nation than "horserace" considerations. If we're Americans first and Democrats/liberals subsequently, the resiliency of our institutions and the system's ongoing ability to correct and improve itself should way outrank whether we get the pleasure of seeing Rove take a perp walk, or even--delicious though this would be--Cheney's resignation press conference.

The reason I thought the last election was so important, and why the continued ascendancy of Cheney/DeLay/Rove/Norquist/Dobson was so dangerous, is that their systemic approach has placed what I consider to be unprecedented pressure on those institutions (checks and balances, country over party, of/by/for the people). Their purpose is self-enrichment and perpetuation of power, not the advancement of the public interest. If abuse of power leads to their downfall--whether through the Plame scandal, DeLay's legal travails, and/or the Abramoff investigations (which I still think are the most structurally important, in terms of showing how these guys work and how amoral they really are)--then the system is redeemed.