There’s an elephant in the living room. It’s the $700 Million that Woodward reports Bush as having spent to prepare for War in Iraq back in July of 2002 – long before General Tommy Franks claims that his Commander-in-Chief had instructed him to prepare for War in Iraq.

The appropriation of the money, Woodward suggests, may have come from the money appropriated by Congress to wage War in Afghanastan.

The White House isn’t talking. Perhaps, because few in the “Liberal Media” seem to be bothering to ask. So I will.

Having perused the US Constitution just now again, it still seems clear that only Congress may authorize the spending of US Tax Dollars.

Given the lack of explanation for this questionable, and possibly unlawful, expenditure by the President it’s no wonder Team Bush is being silly enough to try and attack John Kerry on his war record! Even though such attacks inevitably lead back to questions of Bush’s own military records (or lack thereof). I suppose the gambit to exhaust folks with Scandal Fatigue over a 30 year old issue, ridiculous in the case of Kerry’s record, but on-the-mark in regards to Bush who’s released records are still conspicuously absent of many key documents, is a goose chase the Administration would rather see followed by the sycophants in the Media rather than a potentially lethal question of High Crimes and Misdemeanors by Bush while in office just a year or two ago.

Of the scant reporting on the topic so far, Cass R. Sunstein in Salon offers a rather to-the-point examination of the possible authority from Congress that Bush may have felt had allowed him to use such funds in this clandestine expenditure.

It seems there are two different Congressional Acts from which Bush may have drawn his authority::

He raises a very good question. But is anybody other than Sunstein (and me and a handful of others in the blogosphere) actually asking it? If they aren’t, why aren’t they? How lazy is this supposed “Liberal Media” anyway?

But back to the point and the other legislated possibility:

Don’t know. But John Kerry might have thrown ribbons instead of medals over the fence in 1971! And Michael Jackson has fired his attorneys!

But I digress…

…Ah, there ya go. The “rule of law”. We know it applies to Presidential Blowjobs, worthy of a Constitutional Crisis when lied about. But the secret, perhaps illegal, expenditure of $700 million of tax payer money to prepare for a war against a sovereign nation which — even by the vaguest terms (and the terms were vague indeed when finally authorized by Congress several months later) – hadn’t yet been approved by the branch of governement constitutionally mandated to do so is, apparently, just another one of those things not worth worrying about for the “Liberal Media”.

After all, Kobe Bryant is still facing rape charges! And Rush Limbaugh’s medical records may be used as evidence in a criminal prosecution against him!

The beat goes on. The fatigue sets in. And that’s precisely what Karl Rove and Friends are counting on.

In the meantime, I’d love to remind the made-up and hair-sprayed crowd in the “Liberal Media” set that Woodward actually earned his reputation as an investigative reporter by actually investigating and reporting. I realize that remaining on Scott McClellan’s “must call” list is important to keep your face regularly on the Nightly News, but so is doing the dirty work of following up on the tough issues that the American Public needs to know about. Even if the man who might have committed such illegal appropriations of American Funds wasn’t running for re-election. The fact that he is, makes it even more important. Please get to work!