Ask Not for Whom the Dog Didn't Bark

Byron York, White House correspondent for the National Review, warns conservatives that the US Attorneys scandal isn't going away any time soon, even if Attorney Gen. Gonzales does resign. Ultimately, says York, even if Congressional hearings fail to turn up conclusive evidence of wrongdoing, the mystery of the missing e-mails will fuel speculation about a cover-up:

In the end, that is what the U.S. attorneys affair will likely come down to: a fight over documents. Even if there is no evidence that the attorneys were fired to interfere with prosecutions, and even if there is no evidence that some attorneys weren’t fired to interfere with prosecutions, and even if Alberto Gonzales resigns, and even if a lot of other things happen, there will still be an enormous struggle between the White House and Democrats in Congress over allegations that documents have been withheld, or have been destroyed, or have simply disappeared. Accusers always claim that there is some sort of secret evidence to prove their accusation. Sometimes there is, but even if there isn’t, the lack of such evidence can still sustain charges of coverup. Either way, with Democrats in control of Congress, the investigation can go on a long time.

But has York forgotten, or merely discarded, the neoconservatives' epistemological dogma: "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"?

Labels: Byron York, National review, US Attorney scandal

  ¶ Posted by Paul Curtis 12:50 PM