Chiefs of Staff Gone Wild

It would seem that assistances and chiefs of staff are out of control at the Whitehouse. That explanation is basically what the administration turns to every time a political scandal breaks. Scooter Libby was Dick Cheney's chief of staff and the only person prosecuted in the Valerie Plame affair. Mr. Cheney must have been so disappointed in the conduct of his most trusted advisor. Remember that Libby wasn't charged with creating the actual sandal. He is going to prison because he tried so hard to actively cover up the truth of who did.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is also feeling the pains of shock and horror that his top aide, Chief of staff Kyle Sampson, could have been acting without his knowledge or consent. Gonzales claims to be angry at Sampson for acting with out his knowledge at least. Sampson did have the Attorney General's consent. Mr. Gonzales did sign off on the plan to fire 8 U.S. Attorneys according to documents recently released by the Justice Department. Gonzales claims he doesn't remember the meetings and who can blame him. After all an Attorney General must sign off on a lot of things in the course of any given day. How could he be expected to remember one particular instance of the planned firing of attorney's not working in the best interest of the political interests of the Whitehouse.
At the Whitehouse, the top aides were at it again. Harriet Miers was at one time nominated by the President to be a Supreme Court Judge. This is important to mention since her name in the role of Presidential advisor is now at the center of the controversy. Bush lobbied hard against a skeptical Republican congress that Miers was capable of holding the highest office of judicial oversight in the country. Now she is the main contact of Sampson in a scandal that subverts the independence of the Justice Department for political gain. Did she really believe that her role as Whitehouse legal counsel was to direct and control the Justice Department herself? Could she be another top aide out of control and operating without the consent or at least the knowledge of her superiors? What a terrible betrayal for the President.
Miers resigned from her duties at the Whitehouse in January, so it will be easy to blame everything on her. Sampson also recently resigned because of the scandal. The Whitehouse and the Attorney General still claim that nothing improper was done. If it turns out something improper was done, it is likely that those that have resigned probably did it. It should be to no ones surprise that the entire Iraq war is now the fault of departed Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld. Blaming the person that no longer works in any organization is a time honored tradition. It's amazing how well this tactic still works in deflecting blame from those currently in charge.
The remaining question is what is the motivation of these chiefs of staff, top aides and advisors to act in such a scandalous manner? These overzealous, overreaching, aggressive tactics and actions taken by those that do the detailed work of running the administration must shock and sadden the President, Dick Cheney and the Attorney General. How betrayed the President must feel by those that he put such confidence in. Surely no one in the highest seats of power would have condoned or suggested the actions that have been taken by these advisors and chiefs of staff. If it were otherwise, such leaders would have subverted and damaged the very ideals and balanced structure of our government itself. Thank goodness that these scandals only represent aides and advisors gone wild. Given all these betrayals the President, at least, can still count on advice from Karl Rove.