Karl Rove in waist chains?

Appearing before the grand jury for the 4th time, not being assured that he's not a target, being pressed about details of his prior inconsistent statements? These are usually signs that someone is about to be indicted. In general, one would not appear before the grand jury without a grant of immunity under such circumstances, but of course, politics is not regular circumstances. So, Karl Rove is virtually required by his high political position to continue to appear for grilling in front of the grand jury (much like Clinton virtually had to appear before the grand jury in the Lewinsky matter).

But, remember what I wrote about a while ago, Conservatives generally don't go to prison any more. They are generally immune from prosecution. My theory why: prosecutors are frequently conservatives, and they have managed to make tough law and order consequences not apply to fellow travelers. In general, they have applied over the years to poor people, especially minorities. Perhaps that is changing these days, what with the extremely long sentences for people like Bernie Ebbers, the Tyco folk, the Adelphia folk (they were hard-core Republicans), and some of the other white collar criminals

The difference here, I think, is that Karl Rove is not a conservative accused of doing a run of the mill crime, he is a Republican operative accused of a crime in the course of his Republican duties, actions that were core to his political activities (in general, he's a slimer, and he was sliming someone here, and probably either went overboard, or lied about his actions). In these situations, I have found that the stink generally stops very low down, and the Republicans have managed to keep the upper folk from getting nailed.

Look at all of the lower lever soldiers who have been imprisoned for torturing detainees. Why has this stink not floated higher to the top (such as to the Secretary of Defense, White House Counsel or Attorney General, all of whom approved tactics that resembled torture and argued that the US was not bound by the Geneva Conventions)? In general, it is because Conservatives have managed to avoid accountability at the top for their actions, keeping the blame down low, and even then, protecting their own. I've written before about Oliver North and John Poindexter getting off on technicalities (and the rest of the lot being pardoned anyways), Rush Limbaugh's drug addiction somehow still avoiding prosecution, and other situations.

Compare this with the way in which tiny little controversies managed to become impeachable offenses during a liberal presidential administration, and the difference is stark. All of the original basis for independant counsel in the Clinton administration turned out to be spurious, and Clinton almost went down (pun intended) for lying about a BJ. Compare this with what has not even garnered a special prosecutor in this administration, and the comparison is stark.

As I've also mentioned, conservatives have no problem utilizing those technicalities they decry poor defendants from using. This is how Rush makes common cause with the ACLU in arguing his (no longer "so called") right to privacy in trying to keep his medical records out of the hands of prosecutors in Florida. I can assure you that Rove and Libby, if indicted, will allay themselves of the full panalopy of their rights, no matter how much they have tried to have judges appointed who seek to undermine those rights. And, ironically, judge will give far greater scrutiny to those rights when examining their case.

As I said, all in all, it looks highly unlikely that we will ever see Karl Rove in the waist chains that once adorned the reporter who refused to talk, or people like Susan McDougal, who refused to cooperate with Ken Starr (knowing, by the way, that he only sought her testimony to force her to say what he wanted or charge her with perjury for not following the script). And so it goes, Conservative law and order values tend to get flushed down the toilet when applied to Conservatives (the first US Supreme Court case to cast doubt on the mandatory minimum sentences that were so harsh to minor drug offenders was not a case that shocked the conscience such as 20 years for possession of acid, but those conservative heros Stacy Koon and Lawrence Powell, who were given sentences lower than the mandatory minimums for beating Rodney King, and the conservative Supreme Court, for the first time agreed that the mandatory minimums were perhaps not always mandatory).

It is, of course, hypocrisy at its worse, but it is the intersection of law and politics, American style.