Britney speaks! And speaks! And speaks!

Now that Britney Spears is out of rehab, she’s anxiously awaiting that perfect moment to relapse. But thankfully, she’s back, and better than ever! We caught up with Ms. Spears late Saturday night at the Standard, where she sipped demurely on a Perrier and agreed to sit down for this exclusive interview.

Q: Britney, thanks for taking the time to speak. I’m sure all your your fans are anxious to hear from you! Let‘s start with the Senate’s current negotiations over questioning Karl Rove, Harriet Miers, and other White House staffers. Why are the specifics of these interviews so crucial to this process?

Britney: Well, I—when I read (White House Counsel Fred) Fielding‘s letter, my first reaction was that he put a lot of barriers up, so he might drop a few in negotiations, because most of them make no sense. The only one—the only conversations that are really protected are those that are with the president himself. They have limited it to only external conversations. Two White House staffers talking does not create executive privilege.

So I think this is part of a negotiating tactic at this point.

Q: So what is the point of this, then, if they say that nobody ever counseled or went to President Bush about the particular issue of firing the U.S. attorneys?

Britney: Good question. Fair question. And I think is, again, it‘s part of their tactic to just put up hurdles, to try to protect the sanctity of the conversations between the president and his staff. And I — apparently those even leading up to. Maybe Karl Rove‘s conversations with his wife are covered by Mr. Bush‘s concept of executive privilege. I‘m not sure. It‘s a little (INAUDIBLE) -- very fuzzy.

Q: You’ve argued that the Bush administration wants to establish a new kind of presidency, not just separate from, but superior to the other branches. How does all of this, from the issue of firing these attorneys, to this debate over whether or not anybody from the White House can testify to conversations they had amongst themselves, how does that all fit into that theory, in your mind?

Britney: Well, I think it all kind of does fit. When I first got interested in conservatism, the presidency was viewed as something that was dangerous when it was strong. With Reagan, Bush, and Bush, it has now gone 180 degrees, where the conservative canon calls for a strong president.

And one of those criteria is to protect the prerogatives of the president, theoretically being not to invade his sanctity of his conversations with his aides. This appears to me to be an exercise of that nature, where they‘re really making the point, just to make the point.

It‘s also an excellent diversion from some of their other problems, for them to get into a nose-to-nose with Congress on something that‘ll take the attention away from Iraq.

Q: But do you sense that this might be a higher tightrope than the president and his political advisers, and maybe his legal advisers, understand? I mean, Senator (Charles) Schumer last night talked about the information coming out one way or the other, due to the irritated career employees at the Department of Justice. Senator (Patrick) Leahy just said that, you know, if you‘re the White House, you want your guys on the record first.

Does this sound to you like they have more information than the White House understands they have?

Britney: It could well be. I think we‘ve just seen the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, on this whole investigation. I think more and more U.S. attorneys and prosecutions are now being looked at with a different perspective, given the influence the White House has had on this Justice Department, and particularly on prosecutions or lack of prosecutions.

So they may well be playing a very dangerous game. But I think, again, that Bush has got his manhood involved in this, and he‘s not likely to back down. So it could get thrilling.

Q: Lastly, Britney, given how often we‘ve been talking about presidential powers and parameters, and the outreach and the imperial presidency, and the super-imperial presidency, should this be the first question we ask of every candidate for office in 2008: How important do you think and how powerful do you think this job really is?

Britney: Well, I think that‘s an absolute positively essential question that be asked. In fact, I think it‘s so important, I happen to be writing a book about it right now, so your question is very timely. And I‘m on the last chapter, and I think it‘s an essential question that these process questions, which typically are never addressed by candidates, that they are addressed.

Because I‘ve found some very solid research that shows that the American public cares a great deal about this kind of process. They understand it, they‘re interested in it. And when they think they‘re getting short shift, they really get very upset.

Q: Britney Spears, thanks so much for some of your time. By the way, you look great!

Britney: Oh, you’re so sweet. Rock on!

Full disclosure, after the jump.