Read this: John Dean's Latest on US Attorneys

I been thinking about this US Attorney investigation thing. Especially GWB's fighting language (channelled by Tony Snow) that Congress has no reponsiblity for oversight - and he ain't gonna obey no subpoenas.

IANAL (I am not a Lawyer.) Though I find my self suddenly seized by an interest in constitutional law. I think that this fight is one that BushCheneyCo has been itching for. Because I think the idea that the Consitution does not in fact afford Congress oversight over the Prexy and Veep is in fact what they (Bush and Cheney) truly believe. Not a smokescreen.

Anyway, some comments in a recent diary that I am too lazy to look up referred me to John Dean's recent writings on FindLaw.Looks like he agrees with me.

He mentions that Cheney has always thought that Nixon was done wrong and that: Cheney ...insisted that Reagan provided too much information to Congress during their Iran-Contra investigation.

Here are some more gems from this latest (March 23) article

In truth, much more is at stake here for both the Congress and the White House than [a simple conflict over subpoenas] would indicate. These issues strike at the heart of what post-Watergate conservative Republicans seek to create: an all-powerful presidency. Thus, for the same reason that Vice President Cheney went to extreme lengths to block Congress from getting information about the work of his National Energy Task Force, as I discussed in prior columns such as this one, I expect President Bush to take what will appear to be a similar irrational posture. For both Bush and Cheney, virtually any limit on presidential power is too great.

And this conflict, in the end, is all about presidential power. Moreover, underlying the Administration's defense of unchecked power, is a term that has not been heard since Justice Alito's confirmation hearings: "the unitary executive theory." Once, conservatives rejected a strong presidency. Today, however, the opposite is the case

What Exactly Is the Unitary Executive Theory? A Short Answer

Before the Alito confirmation hearings, Washington Post reporter Dana Milbank correctly described the "unitary executive theory" as an "obscure philosophy ... that favors an extraordinarily powerful president." Milbank found an invocation of this philosophy in the notorious "torture memos."
...
Milbank quoted a passage from one of the memos that was laced with conservative pipe-dream rhetoric: "The Framers understood the [Commander in Chief] clause as investing the president with the fullest range of power," the memo claimed, including power over "the conduct of warfare and the defense of the nation unless expressly assigned in the Constitution to Congress." Such power was given, the memo theorized, because "national security decisions require the unity in purpose and energy in action that characterize the presidency rather than Congress." ....

Ah so we really need a king. We don't need no frigging democracy with it's slow laborious, checks and balances...

the essence of the unitary executive "theory" is "more about power than it is about law." And power, here, means presidential power: The "unitary executive" theory is a theoretical, legal, historical, and Constitutional hook conservatives have invented to expand presidential power.

He concludes:

It Seems Likely Bush, with Fielding, Will Go to the Wall on Executive Privilege

This time, it is my belief that Bush -- unlike Reagan before him -- will not blink.... Bush feels that he has his manhood on the line. He knows what his conservative constituency wants: a strong president who protects his prerogatives. He believes in the unitary executive theory of protecting those prerogatives, and of strengthening the presidency by defying Congress.

In short, all those who have wanted to see Karl Rove in jail may get their wish, for he will not cave in, either -- and may well be prosecuted for contempt, as Gorsuch was not. Bush's greatest problem here, however, is Harriett Miers. It is dubious he can exert any privilege over a former White House Counsel; I doubt she is ready to go to prison for him; and all who know her say if she is under oath, she will not lie. That could be a problem.

He expects that congress will have to send people to jail in contempt, I believe.

This, like so much of this damn presidency is the Cheney crowd trying to right what they feel was a wrong: Vietnam - which we could have won had we just commited more guns and money, Nixon who shouldn't have had to answer to congress.

I would like to read more on federalism.
Here is a link to all of Dean's recent articles
See his series on Congressional powers - here is Part 3

And please, please go read Dean's article

UPDATE: per abbeysbooks:

Dean will be here at kos (ie dailykos)

book club  on Saturday about 1 pm to discuss Altemeyer's book The Authoritarians. With Altemeyer of course.

Wow
see this comment below for more info