Apparently this administration has been using Republican National Committee funded-and-supplied communication equipment (computers, Blackberries, etc.) which is fine so long as all government communications go through the official computers, in compliance with the with Presidential Records Act.

In the process of sifting through the l'embarras des richesses otherwise known as Bush Administration scandals, something interesting happened:

The private e-mail system came to light in the U.S. attorney controversy because one of Rove's deputies used an RNC-maintained e-mail domain — gwb43.com — to communicate with the Justice Department about replacing one of those prosecutors.

Karl Rove is using an off-the-radar laptop and email address?

And we now know that it's been used to "conceal contacts with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff?"

Well that's interesting. Logically, there are two possibilities...

The first is that Rove didn't know that these laptop's contents weren't making it into the record but it's inconceivable that every single person involved in the purchase, sale, distribution and use of these devices was ignorant of this federal law. In fact it's how they got Clinton.

The second option is that Karl did know these were shadow devices with a de facto invisibility in regards to things like, oh, say, subpoenas. Oh hell, a cynic might even say that's why they existed in the first place!

Now Karl wouldn't skirt the law if he thought there was any reasonable chance he'd get caught and if he doesn't think he'll get caught, he'd consider the communications to be secure.

Now what would Karl Rove do with communications methods that he believed were ironclad?

Oh MY this is going to be a fun April...

But Jesus Christ, don't you all long for the good ole days when our biggest national concern was the president having his dick sucked?