Attorney General Alberto Gonzales
Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont has always been a favorite of mine. He just turned 67 so he is likely too old to run for U.S. President, but I would not have minded.
Leahy has been in the Senate since 1974. He understands how things work and how they are supposed to work. Rarely has he stepped into the limelight, quietly accomplishing things in the background. Only when he gets a sense that something is so important he needs to be seen, does he step out and speak.
This appears to be one of those times. Or maybe the Senator is just doing some Democratic Party footwork.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales did something foolish. He probably did it at the insistence of Karl Rove or someone else in the Bush administration. Remember, the Bush White House has never been one to think things through. Once again, they blundered in without an exit strategy.
The firing of federal prosecutors is not unusual. Most administrations take the time and mass remove prosecutors from office. The problem here is that most administrations do the deed during the first few months of gaining office, not six years later. Not after the prosecutors have told them they will or will not pursue legal issues that are purely for the political gain of the White House and/or the Republican Party.
Gonzales could have avoided this mess. There are ways this could have been handled that would have been neat and tidy. Still, when has the Bush administration every done anything “neat and tidy”?
Instead of having a plausible reason for the firings ready for anyone who asked, he tells the public that the prosecutors were fired for doing a poor job. Even Senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania will tell you that such a statement is ridiculous.
A statement that they wanted to start fresh with their own people would have been an honest statement and one that likely would have gone unnoticed.
The good news is that this whole debacle is strictly a show. Whether Gonzales stays or goes does not really matter. You know that Rove is not going to appear under oath. Much like the immigrant issue of times past, this is to distract us from important issues, such as the conditions at Walter Reed and the war in Iraq. If we give our attention to a non-issue, such as whether prosecutors were fired correctly, the politicians have more time to play the real war games.
Keep in mind that the older Senators are the ones involved. Patrick Leahy and Arlen Specter are the ones in the public eye. Neither is running for higher office. They are simply being the “magician’s assistant”, keeping the audience distracted while the magician is doing the real deception.
If you notice, Gonzales has not stepped down yet. Much like the departure of former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, he will likely wait until the discussion dies down and then make a big show of leaving. All in the effort to distract the pundits and buy the White House more time.
Nicely played, Karl. Nicely done.
Leahy has been in the Senate since 1974. He understands how things work and how they are supposed to work. Rarely has he stepped into the limelight, quietly accomplishing things in the background. Only when he gets a sense that something is so important he needs to be seen, does he step out and speak.
This appears to be one of those times. Or maybe the Senator is just doing some Democratic Party footwork.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales did something foolish. He probably did it at the insistence of Karl Rove or someone else in the Bush administration. Remember, the Bush White House has never been one to think things through. Once again, they blundered in without an exit strategy.
The firing of federal prosecutors is not unusual. Most administrations take the time and mass remove prosecutors from office. The problem here is that most administrations do the deed during the first few months of gaining office, not six years later. Not after the prosecutors have told them they will or will not pursue legal issues that are purely for the political gain of the White House and/or the Republican Party.
Gonzales could have avoided this mess. There are ways this could have been handled that would have been neat and tidy. Still, when has the Bush administration every done anything “neat and tidy”?
Instead of having a plausible reason for the firings ready for anyone who asked, he tells the public that the prosecutors were fired for doing a poor job. Even Senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania will tell you that such a statement is ridiculous.
A statement that they wanted to start fresh with their own people would have been an honest statement and one that likely would have gone unnoticed.
The good news is that this whole debacle is strictly a show. Whether Gonzales stays or goes does not really matter. You know that Rove is not going to appear under oath. Much like the immigrant issue of times past, this is to distract us from important issues, such as the conditions at Walter Reed and the war in Iraq. If we give our attention to a non-issue, such as whether prosecutors were fired correctly, the politicians have more time to play the real war games.
Keep in mind that the older Senators are the ones involved. Patrick Leahy and Arlen Specter are the ones in the public eye. Neither is running for higher office. They are simply being the “magician’s assistant”, keeping the audience distracted while the magician is doing the real deception.
If you notice, Gonzales has not stepped down yet. Much like the departure of former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, he will likely wait until the discussion dies down and then make a big show of leaving. All in the effort to distract the pundits and buy the White House more time.
Nicely played, Karl. Nicely done.
posted by Alexander Dimm | 5:41 AM
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