What a difference a year makes

This week is the one-year anniversary of the Democratic take-over (at least on paper) of both houses of Congress--but lest we forget, it's also been 12 months since Bush gave Rumsfeld the old heave-ho.

And how's it going for Rummy these days? Well, let's see:

This week the Washington Post released a truckload of his legendary micromanaging memos--called "snowflakes" by their hapless recipients, who got anywhere from 20 to 60 per day--showing the Full Rummy, from bigoted boor to PR meddler to tinpot philosopher.

Through a spokesperson, Rumsfeld made known his displeasure with the release of these memos. But however embarrassing they might be for Rummy in the short run, at least their publication won't force him to high-tail it across any international borders to avoid prosecution:

Former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld fled France today [October 29th, 2007] fearing arrest over charges of "ordering and authorizing" torture of detainees at both the American-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the U.S. military's detainment facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, unconfirmed reports coming from Paris suggest.

U.S. embassy officials whisked Rumsfeld away yesterday from a breakfast meeting in Paris organized by the Foreign Policy magazine after human rights groups filed a criminal complaint against the man who spearheaded President George W. Bush's "war on terror" for six years.

Under international law, authorities in France are obliged to open an investigation when a complaint is made while the alleged torturer is on French soil.

So now we can add France to the list of countries Donald Rumsfeld dare not set foot in openly. America couldn't be more proud.

Tony Snow: "A man perpetually daring us not to believe him"

Tony Snow is the latest White House figure to bail out.

Snow, married with three children and a recent cancer survivor, did not cite either "health reasons" or "spending more time with his family" as a reason for stepping down as White House Press Secretary next month. Instead, he offered a rare bit of White House candor: It's all about the green.

Snow says his departure is based on family finances. "If I had the dough I'd stay 'til the bitter end,” Snow told NBC News. As an assistant to the President, Snow earns the highest-level salary among White House officials at $168,000 a year.

We here at p3 salute Snow's heroic struggle to get along at three times the median income for an American family of five. Perhaps moving to a new job will mean you can finally get health insurance for your kids, too.

Steve Kettmann of the San Francisco Chronicle probably wrote the best professional epitaph for Snow:

White House spokesman Tony Snow, ever ready with a pained smile or sharp retort, comes across as a man perpetually daring us not to believe him.

Yes, it was a dare he seemed to issue over and over again; it would have been rude of America not to take him up on it.

(Here's one of my favorites.)

But--and you knew this was coming--we're not going to send Tony home empty-handed (not counting his next evidently-more-than-$168,000-annually job). We've got a p3 bumper sticker for him!

No, no--don't thank us, Tony. There are plenty more where that came from.

Which is probably a good thing, since I'd imagine you're not the last White House worthy to be jumping ship in the months to come.

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.