On this Presidents' Day, Washington and Lincoln must be spinning in their graves. While the government enjoys a day off, the Republican scandals enveloping the capitol continue to mushroom out of control.
Among the lowlights:

• President Bush's allies in Congress are trying to block an inquiry into the illegal NSA domestic wiretapping program. Even as critics in his own party such as Lindsey Graham, Chuck Hegel and Arlen Specter question the legality of President Bush's NSA program, Intelligence Committee chairman Pat Roberts has blocked any inquiry by his panel, at least until March 7.
• Speaking of Roberts, the same man who blocked the Phase II inquiry into the uses - and misuses - pre-Iraq war intelligence, conservatives are crowing about audio tapes of Saddam discussing WMD from the mid-1990's. These, they erroneously claim, justify the Bush team's characterization of Iraq as a "grave and gathering threat."
• On the Iraq front, the Abu Ghraib torture disgrace continues to expand. Just days after Salon published dozens of sickening new photographs of detainee abuse perpetrated in the name of the United States, a new piece in the New Yorker details how Alberto Mora, the former counsel general of the United States Navy, was stymied in his attempts to prevent the prisoner torture that unfolded at Abu Ghraib.
• Meanwhile, convicted Republican mega lobbyist Jack Abramoff continues to sing about his relationship with Karl Rove and the Bush White House.

For the latest news, legal documents, key statutes, timelines and other essential materials for the litany of Republican scandals, visit the Perrspectives Document Library.