If the Bush, or any other administration, did something they could be proud of, they would trumpet it from the rooftops and be happy to repeat it before Congress, the media, the public, or anyone else who showed an interest. The fact that the Bush administration is so secretive is an indication of how many things they have done that they are ashamed of. Executive privilege is not a license to break the law. The Executive branch has not only sworn to uphold the law, that is one of its prime functions. If the Executive branch bends, twists, breaks and ignores the law, then there is no law but the coercion of force. In a case like that you could have mercenary armies and a private enterprise penal system. Law would just be another commodity, bought and sold to the highest bidder. And justice would be a sham. You would have justices, even in the Supreme Court, who would try to undermine their own authority and the rule of law. You would have something like the current state of American affairs. Who would want something like that who wasn't a criminal, or a Republican?