Seriously, this is a complete mind frack.

Yeah, assuming the report is accurate, what the "privilege review team" did here was Kafkaesque. But, come on, they're uniformed bureaucrats engaged in censorship. What else would you expect?

The fact is is that government lawyers, city, state and federal--it doesn't seem to make a difference, do bizarre, abusive Kafkaesque shit every day. They do it in the prosecution of criminal cases, they do it in the enforcement of environmental and land use and every other kind of regulation, they do it in licensing and professional certification cases and alcohol sales regulation cases. They do it in everything.

That's the nature of the beast. Government lawyers aren't responsible to anyone for their time. They are only held responsible for failing to protect their client. And when your client is in the business of weilding power, that means protecting every last erg of your client's power to your dying breath, no matter how insane your position. As a result, overreaching and general dickheadedness are pervasive occupational hazards for government attorneys. Many are good, decent people who weild their authority with common sense and a level head--and fortunately for us, the career Justice Department lawyers are the ones most likely to be that way. But the civil service system also attracts dickheads with J.D.'s like flies to roadkill.

That's why we try really hard to insulate judges from politics. And that's why we have opposing lawyers to challenge dickish positions. And that's why the government often loses when they take a dickish position.

So, yeah, I'm really sorry that in his first 80 days, Obama hasn't used his the magic make everything perfect pixie dust Jesus gave him to make government lawyers stop behaving like dicks. It would certainly make my life easier if government attorneys would stop behaving like dicks, though I do love how easy their dickishness makes it to beat their asses in court.

But the conclusion you seem to have come to that this is all part of some secret power grab strategery being directed by Obama from the White House just doesn't seem to be supported by any facts you site, much less your dramatic invocation of George Orwell.