I heard Gonzales on the radio saying: a) the Justice Department is a really big place, and he can’t keep track of what goes on there; b) that’s not to say that there was anything wrong with the firings, because there wasn’t; c) “mistakes were made”; d) he “takes responsibility” (in some undefined way that doesn’t involve accepting any negative consequences).
God, I hate that prick. If he were ever arrested, it’d be fun to ask him, “How do you feel about that habeus corpus now?”
Gonzalez is droning on (on the Today Show) about how he didn’t know anything and Matt Lauer is stickin’ it to him. There’s no way a responsible AG could *not * know what was going on. He’s staying put (unless W dumps his ass). And that’s a shame.
Gonzalez says he won’t quit, to which I say “Heh, very funny. It’s not up to you.” I’m surprised with how fast the administration has caved on this one: where they might have stonewalled for weeks in the past, Gonzalez has already had to apologize and admit mistakes. I think he’s going to make the rounds on the talk shows long enough to say Bush had nothing to do with it, and then he’s out.
Not to mention, they did that big docu-dump yesterday, with all the juicy emails. They’d have saved that for COB Friday if at all possible, so they must be crazy desperate over there.
I’d love to see him impeached; but even if the House had the will to do that, he’d definitely resign first, to avoid the can of worms that would be opened up.
As usual, The Onion is on the case.
Remember during Gonzales’ confirmation hearings, when there were right-wing pundits who actually said, with a straight face, that Democrats opposed Gonzales because he was Hispanic?
Actually, I know this. Charlie Brown, the former CEO of AT&T, got an office in the building where I worked (it being the AT&T building closest to where he lived) and worked on his memoirs there. It was really pretty sad. He seemed befuddled half the time, and was the only person who got coffee from the awful coffee machine.
His memoirs never came out.
As for Gonzalez, a competent administration would dump him very quickly. This one will wait until the damage is maximized. I don’t expect him to go until the Republican candidates feel they need to call for it.
The scandals are coming hot and heavy - reading the Times is fun again.
Anybody else remember when people were saying Gonzales might be a future Supreme Court nominee? I hope that’s over.
Is he still drawing a salary? I hadn’t heard about that.
John Sununu is the first Pub in Congress to call for Gonzalez’ resignation – story here (fifth paragraph).
I think Gonzales will have to be the fall guy. They’ll sacrifice him in the hopes of saving Rove’s ass, and will probably be successful in that.
Too much evidence with Rove’s name on it for that anymore.
Gonzales is now an unfixable political liability, sure, but this could still be the long-anticipated beginning of Turdblossomdammerung.
Karl Rove being forced to testify under oath would be the single best thing that has ever happened in the history of the universe.
“Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., said Thursday that Gonzales had lost the confidence of Congress.”
I believe he will be forced out after the shitstorm reaches maximum velocity. If Rove were to go with him so much the better.
Better than Scarlett Johansen?
Well, I’m not saying she couldn’t top it, with sufficient attention and effort… so let’s just say Rove’s testimony would set a high-water mark which she has not yet attained but to which she could aspire.
Scarlett! Call me!
I would say that is the only certainty at this point. There is no chance he could ever be confirmed now.
I don’t believe the president will force him to resign, but the heat is building up: accusations of perjury!
Statements on prosecutor firings are key (msnbc.com)
video of Alberto Gonzalez speaking under oath to Congress on 18 January 2007 (thinkprogress.com)
The facts:
On 18 January Alberto Gonzalez said to Congress, while under oath (concerning a Patriot Act provision that allows the President to appoint “interim” U.S. attorneys for an indefinite period of time, without Senate confirmation):
However, just a month previous, his aide D. Kyle Sampson had planned in e-mails to avoid Senate confirmation for a U.S. attorney candidate.
I don’t think the charge of perjury would stick in court - Gonzalez could just say “I didn’t know what Sampson was planning.” But it doesn’t look good for him.
The White House has insisted this whole thing was the idea of erstwhile White House Chief of Staff and Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers. But today, there’s evidence Rove was involved and the idea was going around before Gonzales was confirmed, despite what they said earlier.Now they’re claiming Scooter Libby memory syndrome.
Alberto Gonzales isn’t going anywhere until Bush slaps him on the shoulder and says, “Nice job you’re doing, Gonzie!” Right after that, he’s forced to resign and then goes on all the talk shows to explain how he was sandbagged and blames everyone else for his misfortune. Sound familiar? :rolleyes:
Well Bush’s latest comments were: “He’s got support with me,” Bush said. “I support the attorney general.”
That, after announcing that Bush had made a phone call of support to Gonzalez the other morning, says to me that it’s time to call the movers.