At HuffingtonPost, Joseph Palermo discusses Allen Raymond's book, How to Rig an Election: Confessions of a Republican Operative. One tactic he describes involves obstruction from the Department of Justice:

"Raymond describes how the Bush Justice Department essentially obstructed justice by blocking Democratic attempts to depose New Hampshire Republican Party officials about Raymond's illegal phone-jamming system. The Department of Justice under Attorney General John Ashcroft stopped the deposition "on the grounds that it would interfere with the ongoing criminal investigation." In the years since 2002, that tactic -- claiming no investigation can be conducted because it might interfere with an ongoing investigation -- has become a Bush staple in covering up crimes ranging from the illegal use of torture and warrantless surveillance, to the leaking of a CIA agent's identity and the disappearance of White House phone and email logs. It's all spin; the fabled "permanent campaign" in operation."

This reminds me of the claim that the reason Osama bin Laden has not been charged by the FBI for the crimes of 9/11 is because there is an ongoing investigation. If charges are ever laid against Bin Laden, no doubt they will be based on evidence culled from hearsay and tortured confessions, evidence about to be used in the military tribunals of 9/11 suspects. The tribunals will have a way of legitimizing the illegitimate evidence.

In the meantime all of the neocon foreign policy objectives are achieved, and halting or reversing them will require tremendous effort.