Gonzales resigns; vows to spend more time lying to family

The rumor began last Friday (ah yes, Friday, the day when most Bush Administration bad news makes contact with the air), but most of the blogosphere had its doubts throughout the weekend.

But here I sit, listening to MSNBC reporters vamp on the Michael Vick plea in the dogfighting charges while waiting for Gonzales's press conference. Draw your own conclusions about that coincidence.

(The difference between the two cases, of course, is that many observers think Vick might help prosecutors bring his crooked pals to justice.)

On MSNBC, Senator John Cronyn (R - Pluto) just decried this situation as a failure of PR on the part of the Justice Department, and an example of the reason that Congressional approval ratings are so low. Attendants were on hand to administer Cornyn's medication before he could say anything more delusional.

Some observers speculated that Bush would be pressured to replace Gonzales with someone with prosecutorial experience and a reputation for nonpartisan commitment to the rule of law.

Nonsense.

There are numerous cases in which the Bush administration, after one of its officials has been forced to resign--or a nominee forced to withdraw his or her name--because of incompetence, corruption, ideological extremism, or scandal. How many instances can you name where Bush nominated anyone in their place who wasn't just as bad--although perhaps less well-known and a little more media polished? Alberto Gonzales, after all, was the replacement for John Ashcroft. Partisanship aside, Bush won't back off, if only to prove that no one's the boss of him.

Oops! There it was--his statement lasted a whopping 2 minutes and 2 seconds:

To sum up: Gonzales will be leaving office on September 17th. He has "lived the American Dream." As the first Latino Attorney General of the United States he was able to trample on laws and Constitutional safeguards that his father could only dream of trampling. And so on.

Now we'll see if Leahy and the rest of the Senate Judiciary Committee will be sufficiently able to multitask to keep the pressure on for a special prosecutor for Gonzales while trying to prevent someone just as dreadful from being confirmed in his place.

But meanwhile, Alberto, we don't want you to leave empty handed: This bumper sticker's for you.