posted by Damozel |
The Washington Post says that Gonzo's resignation signifies that "realities trumped loyalty." Took them awhile, didn't it? But everyone at this blog, liberal, conservative, vegetable, or mineral, is down with this:
Few attributes are more highly prized in President Bush's White House than loyalty -- and few have exacted a higher toll on the president and his political standing. Yesterday's resignation announcement by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales underscored once again the damage that can be done when loyalty becomes paramount in presidential decision-making.
Rarely has a Cabinet-level resignation been so anticipated, coming long after Gonzales's credibility had been irreparably undermined by controversy. After he seemingly could do no more harm to the administration, Bush's friend and longtime confidant finally called it quits.
Yet the resignation was almost as surprising as it was long expected. Bush repeatedly expressed confidence in his embattled attorney general, and Gonzales had stubbornly refused to yield to the political reality that his presence at the Justice Department meant continued conflict with Democrats and some Republicans in Congress as well as further investigations into the inner workings of the administration. (WaPo)
A "Republican strategist" who insisted on anonymity in order to give a candid opinion, opined that it is now four or five months too late (WaPo). But for what or whom? He or she doesn't say. Instead: ""It reemphasizes that this thing is broken."" The article talks about this latest manifestation of the Bush Administration's repeated pattern of setting loyalty over...well, anything else, right up to the moment when it's no longer feasible to do so (WaPo). It does give a passing nod to "the storybook quality" of AG's successes before he rose to a level apparently beyond his competence and developed those troublesome memory problems.
Though as Dana Milbank notes, Gonzo made his final bow in characteristic style:
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales resigned his post in a familiar way -- with one final whopper.
A White House spokesman said yesterday that President Bush accepted the beleaguered attorney general's resignation on Friday afternoon. But when New York Times reporters called on Saturday to ask about word of Gonzales's departure, the attorney general directed his spokesman to deny the rumors.
For a man accused of lying to Congress, it was a fitting way to go out.
Equally emblematic was the way in which Gonzales announced his departure yesterday morning. From "good morning" to "God bless America," he spoke for all of one minute and 41 seconds -- during which he managed to consult his written statement 26 times and to avoid saying a single word about the roiling scandals that finally forced him to quit. He entered the Justice Department conference room with a grin and departed without taking any of the questions shouted at his back. (Milbank)
As Dana Milbank, notes "Gonzalez dug his own grave and many are happy to dance on it."
Now that the pressure's off and he's no longer the nation's AG, I hope he'll get himself checked out by a good neurologist. As my mother once remarked, she sometimes has similar problems recalling important events, but she is in her eighties and is not trying to be the Attorney General of the United States.
Ever anxious as always to get the view outside our own backyard, we've taken a quick look round the blogosphere to see what other bloggers are saying:
At Thoughtful Preparations: The Media Spin Blog, Hank Grebe presents Gonzalez: The Weasel. Literally, because it's a picture of Gonzalez as a weasel (kind of a cute one if you ask me, but for God's sake don't let Giuliani see this; he's got that thing about "little weasels"). I hope someone will submit the photo to Cute Overload. In CO terms, it's pretty darn prosh.
"Like Gonzales, I cannot exactly recall where this idea came from," Grebe claims. [Pop Goes Alberto] I'm guessing that exactly like Gonzalez, Grebe knows perfectly damn well where the idea came from.
At Wake Up America, Susan Duclos seems to think that the Gonzalez resignation resulted from a "witch hunt" by "Democrats." [Alberto Gonzales Resignation Won't End The Witch Hunting] I thought it resulted from Congress---after a period during which the GOP made Congress into the executive branch's bitch--- resuming its constitutional duty of oversight of the Executive Branch, but to each her own opinion, I guess. It's worth remarking, as I will again, that Congress is a separate branch of the government from the presidency and its oversight function doesn't belong to either the Democrats or the Republicans, as the admirable Arlen Specter (R-PA)---a key participant in the DOJ so-called "witch hunt"---would be happy to explain to many Americans who are so dazed and confused by the partisan politics of the last 15 years that they've forgotten what they know about basic civics. [Specter: "“I commend Mr. Gonzales for placing the interests of the Department of Justice ahead of his own continued tenure, and now I look forward to the confirmation of a new Attorney General so that the Department of Justice can undertake its important responsibilities.”]
At The Impolitic, Libby Spence speaks for me when she says:
[T]he biggest surprise for me by far is my emotional response to the news of both resignations. I'm glad that they're gone for the good of the country but I'm unexpectedly unelated. [Goodbye Gonzales]
LS feels cheated of the indictments "they so richly deserve," but since I don't think that would ever happen, it's not that. I suppose I'm just sad that so many Americans don't understand why what Gonzalez did---starting with the politicization of the DOJ--- was wrong, wrong, wrong, as in "unjust" and "immoral." Not every wrongful act is a crime in the eyes of the legislature; some acts are simply wrong because they're wrong, which---ironically---is the argument I heard a lot of Republicans make in the days of Bill Clinton. It just depends on whether you think it's more immoral to muck about with interns and then tell a lie about it or to pervert the U.S. Justice system to protect your political friends and persecute your political enemies and then lie (and lie and lie) about it. Maybe there's not much to choose between them.
At The Newshoggers, Shamanic has a suggestion for Gonzalez's permanent replacement: Harriet Miers! Of course; why not? She's used to getting subpoenas (and not showing up for them).
[S]he didn't end up on the Supreme Court, and in fact she ended up out of a job after that fiasco, so it only seems fair that you should offer her another shot at national prominence. And why not replace one undistinguished attorney with another?
Harriet Miers, Mr. Bush. And remember: you can run her as the "transparency nominee". Just make sure she starts updating her blog again. [A Friendly Suggestion RE: Attorney General]
At Froth Slosh B'Gosh, Ol' Froth harshes on "the 25 percenters" who still don't get it. Hey, somebody's got to do it. Ol' Froth also has a go at Bush:
Bubble-Boy doesn't get it either:
"It's sad that we live in a time when a talented and honorable person like Alberto Gonzales is impeded from doing important work because his good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons," Bush said.
Ummm...no Mr. President. Based on his tenure at Justice and testimony from Gonzalez before Congress, the man is only one of two things (and possibly both).
A: Stunningly incompetent for the job of AG
or
B: A liar.
We could add is blatant disregard for the Constitution, but you're going to have that ingrained in just about any neocon Bushie.
Either case should have resulted in his resignation long ago.
The good news of course, is that we may now be able to get the Justice Department back on the right track, but given the administration's record, Bush will probably nominate another toady who is even more incompetent than Gonzales. [Exit Gonzales]
Not to seem partisan myself, and no reflection on ordinary Republicans (Specter!), but this is the sad truth about neocons: in general, they're full of theory and blather, but are too blinded by their own "science" to walk or talk straight. And I'm afraid that the prospects for an AG who isn't equally blinded by politics are small.
At The Democratic Daily, Pamela Leavey gags a bit over W's praise for Gonzalez. [John Kerry Tells Bush to Restore Integrity to Justice Department] She quotes John Kerry, who has enjoined Bush to pick someone who actually understands that the Department of Justice is supposed to be about, duh, justice (though he said it better than that):
Alberto Gonzales turned the Justice Department into a political arm of the White House and he should have resigned long ago,” Kerry said. “From the firings of the US Attorneys to evasion about illegal wiretapping, Gonzales single-handedly damaged the integrity of our legal system and subverted efforts to get to the truth. This is a critical moment. President Bush can either continue on a divisive and destructive path, or choose in the next Attorney General someone who knows they’re not the president’s lawyer but rather the nation’s top law enforcement officer. The President should choose a replacement that gives the department a fresh start, untainted by controversy; and even with Gonzales gone, Congress must keep pushing until we get truth and accountability on unanswered questions involving everything from illegal wiretapping to the US Attorneys scandal.” [quoted in John Kerry Tells Bush to Restore Integrity to Justice Department]
At the same blog, Harto says:
It is a testament to the utter failure of the Bush Administration that even the Kewpie Doll from Hell™ Michelle Malkin has taken the full swan dive and is swimming away from the sinking Ship of State as fast as any rat ever swam:
Back in May, I said I wouldn’t be shedding tears and my poll showed that neither would most of you … If the administration learned anything at all from the shamnesty debacle, DHS secretary Michael Chertoff would not be the reported leading candidate to replace Gonzales. Looks like they’ve learned nothing. If Chertoff replaces Gonzales, Allah wonders, who replaces Chertoff? Hey: Why not just go full-on open borders and put Mel Martinez in charge! Or how about…a head of lettuce?
f they want the best qualified, most experienced AG candidate who is serious about enforcing all of our laws, including our immigration laws, and who is best equipped to serve in a time of war, the choice would be obvious: John Ashcroft.
OK. Nobody ever said that the Righties had turned SANE. Just that even they know when to jump ship.
Harto also takes a pop at The Captain (booooo! We kind of like Captain Ed here at this centrist blog, so we're not going to get behind that, even though we---by which I mostly mean "I" because I shouldn't speak for the others---aren't in full agreement).
Speaking of The Captain's Quarters and Captain Ed, he just can't see that Gonzalez did anything wrong. Did perjury stop being wrong when they couldn't get the Senate to impeach Clinton, then?
This is his take on Gonzalez's departure:
[I]t's far past time for Gonzales to go. No one did anything illegal in terminating the federal prosecutors, but Gonzales and his team made it into a royal botch-up anyway. Gonzales really should have resigned after telling people publicly that the attorneys had performance issues when their reviews showed that they had performed well. That set off a series of statements that Gonzales had to retract or clarify, including some in Senate testimony that made him appear as though he hardly had anything to do with running the Department of Justice.
It's been an ongoing embarrassment -- and not just for the White House, which refused to acknowledge the reality of Gonzales' incompetent handling of the DoJ.The Senate has spent months trying to nail Gonzales on some sort of crime when none occurred. The SJC, and to a lesser extent their House Judiciary colleagues, have wasted months trying to deliver Gonzmas to the nutroots crowd, and the only thing they can find is mediocrity with frequent bouts of incompetence. Had they left it at that point, they would have won the war, but instead the Democrats overpromised and underdelivered and now look like fools. [Gonzo Gone]
Huh. For the record, Captain, I---one of this blog's three acknowledged Dems---ain't embarrassed; no, not at all. And again, by the way: Arlen Specter. Not to Congressional oversight and the responsibility of Congress to check the executive branch when it oversteps. I'm no constitutional law scholar, but I don't think the Democrats were wrong to probe into what was happening at Justice. Even if they'd found nothing---which was not the case because, as noted, not every wrong act = a criminal act---they wouldn't know this till they investigated, would they?
So I can't concur with his conclusion that "Gonzales made the partisan differences fade into the background. He made everyone look like fools in equal proportion." [Gonzo Gone] I don't think that's the way most people will perceive it, somehow.
He doesn't think that Chertoff will be the successor (as rumored).
I tend to think that they'll go for someone less associated with the administration, hopefully learning from the nomination of Robert Gates at Defense that going outside can have its advantages. If they do nominate Chertoff, it promises not one but two bruising confirmation battles, the second to replace Chertoff at DHS. There has to be more quality choices available, even in a lame-duck administration[Gonzo Gone]
Let us pray!
RELATED BN-POLITICS POSTINGS
The Crux (nonpartisan) has been following this closely with the odd bit contributed here and there by one or the other of the rest of us. You can see our collected postings by clicking this link:
Justice Department & Fired U.S. Attorneys
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