How corrupt do you have to be...

...to have to resign from the Cheney administration?

Pretty corrupt.

Of chief concern to Democrats and some Republicans was Mr. Flanigan's role at Tyco, where as its general counsel he oversaw Mr. Abramoff's work lobbying for the company, which is based in Bermuda, to retain its tax-exempt status. Critics of the nomination said they were also troubled by the fact that Mr. Flanigan had no experience as a criminal prosecutor and that he helped shape administration policy on the treatment of suspected terrorists in American custody, as deputy White House counsel under Mr. Gonzales.

Mr. Flanigan becomes the most prominent Bush appointee to pull his nomination since Bernard B. Kerik withdrew from consideration as homeland security secretary last December. In the end, Mr. Flanigan's nomination appears to have been scuttled by a convergence of disparate issues that have all proven increasingly difficult for the Bush administration: charges of cronyism in political appointees, the wide-ranging investigation into Mr. Abramoff's political lobbying work, and lingering concern about the administration's allowance of the questionable treatment of suspected terrorists.

Tyco. Abramoff. Torture. Kind of a short hand for the last five years.