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April 19, 2007
A Nice Little Chat
After being a granted a two-day reprieve due to the tragic events at Virginia Tech University earlier in the week, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales appeared for a friendly little chat before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The subject? Gonzales' role (or lack thereof in his view) in the firing of eight U.S. Attorneys.
William Branigin has the rundown late this afternoon in the Washington Post.
Mr. Gonzales, conveniently, suffered from numerous memory lapses upon being questioned by senators from both parties. While his testimony demonstrated contrition (Gonzales apologized for his mistakes and the poor treatment of the fired attorneys), he balked at repeated calls for his resignation. Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma) criticized the AG's incompetent handling of the U.S. attorney matter, and pressed him to quit. Gonzales wouldn't budge, however, claiming he would only step down if he could no longer be effective. Hmm... not sure what Gonzo's standard for ineffectiveness could be, but in our view he crossed that threshold long ago.
So, Gonzales' enemies are gunning for him, from the left and the right (which has never liked or trusted him, and sees an opening to take him down), but the boss is sticking with him for the moment. President Bush, ever consistent, hasn't let the legion calls for his staff's hides move him in the past (remember Don Rumsfeld?), so why should this time be any different?
Equally interesting, and mentioned at the end of Branigin's piece, is what will come of the revelation that Karl Rove "accidentally" deleted an enormous number of emails from a several-year period, an act that appears illegal on its face.
To us the notion that Rove, a master political tactician, would do any such thing accidentally strains credibility, to put it mildly. We shall see.
Posted by houtopia at April 19, 2007 07:47 PM