For David Halberstam journalism was a calling, not a job. You couldn't fire him and he wouldn't quit.

With Jack Abramoff under indictment, a number of readers have suggested that now he might flip and try to offer the feds some figures higher up the food-chain.

For David Halberstam journalism was a calling, not a job. You couldn't fire him and he wouldn't quit.

The Federalist Society is this conservative legal organization. And I think, for the Bush administration, being a member of the Federalist Society meant you were - a reliable, ideological, partisan Republican. It wasn't enough just to be registered as a Republican, or to be - have a generally conservative judicial philosophy, or prosecutorial philosophy. It meant that, basically, meant that you were a real movement conservative, a Party regular. That's what being a Federalist Society member means.

One of the failings of ideologues is their inability to see that everyone else isn't necessarily an ideologue like them.

Success can be built on a strong relationship between a lobbyist and a single, powerful lawmaker.

That D.C. grand jury investigation of Abramoff can't go on forever. Eventually the lawyers at the Public Integrity Section will go to their bosses with some decisions about just who they want to indict. That's when Al Gonzales will have to show his cards.