ABU GONZALES VS... EVERYONE ELSE

Hey, I was only watching CNN to see Patrick Leahy announce he was going to subpoena Karl Rove unless he came by the Senate Judiciary Committee voluntarily. The bonus was when Leahy lashed out at bumbling, floundering Alberto Gonzales. "The attorney general said, 'Well, there are some staff people or lower level people-- I am not sure whether I want to allow them to testify or not.' I said, 'Frankly, Mr. Attorney General, it's not your decision, it's mine and the committee's.' We will have some subpoenas." Smack! You been served, bitch! Or you will be soon.

Earlier. Gonzales had breezily let it out that he might make some time to visit Capitol Hill later in the week. He was way too busy today bouncing from TV station to TV station to try to muddy the waters about the political firings-- probably, as CREW points out criminal political firings-- that he perpetrated against 7 or 8 or 9-- no one is sure exactly because everything this Regime does is so shrouded in unprecedented secrecy-- U.S. Attorneys.

Gonzales' main point on TV was to repeat over and over and over that the most obvious thing about the mass firings, their political nature, was not so-- regardless of the fact that his assertion flies right in the face of the revealed e-mails. At NBC's Today he lied outright: "These firings were not politically motivated. They were not done in retaliation. They were not done to interfere in a public corruption case." Motivation is sometimes hard to prove, but it won't be in this case.

Over at the GOP's own propaganda network, he probably got to write his own softball questions. Asked at Fox & Fiends if the prosecutors were fired for poor performance or political reasons, Gonzales answered coyly: "I'll just say there was dissatisfaction...They were based upon not political pressure, but based on what we felt was best for the people in these respective districts."


At CNN's American Morning they wanted to know how involved he was in the decision making. That's a tough one for Gonzales who either has to come off as clueless and incompetent or criminal. Scapegoating an underling is always first on the mind of any Republican who gets caught doing something wrong. "I directed my chief of staff to lead that effort. Kyle Sampson has been involved in United States attorney decisions from the early days of the transition. He was, obviously, the perfect man for the job. I was aware of some conversations that were occurring with the White House. They were providing some input about the process, but I relied upon my chief of staff. I had confidence in my chief of staff to drive that process forward, to vet names throughout the department. And, obviously, when decisions were made or recommendations were made to me, I did sign off on those names. Understanding that these were names that had been vetted throughout the department, and that they would sign off at the White House." [This guy doesn't get embarrassed, does he?]

CBS' Early Show went right to the meat of the matter-- when is he resigning? "I didn't become attorney general by quitting. I work for the American people. I serve at the pleasure of the president of the United States. Obviously my job is easier if I have the confidence of Congress... but I'm going to be focused on serving the needs of the American people. Obviously we have an issue here that needs to be addressed. We are going to address that." I bet you're as relieved as I am.

Only one more (that I know about): Good Morning America had him on too-- to talk about his favorite chocolate chip cookies recipe but he did manage to sneak in a hint that he didn't have anything to do with anything; afterall, he's just the boss. "There were a number of factors that went into this decision that was made at the Justice Department and recommended to the White House... The rule of law has been respected here. What we focused on was the performance of U.S. attorneys. If the White House receives complaints from members of Congress those are going to be shared with the Justice Department... I'm focused on doing my job as attorney general. Obviously I'm not happy with the way some of decisions were made."

Yes, they were made-- and he isn't the only one not happy about them. While Republican legislators tried catching up with Chuck Schumer's calls for Gonzales to take a hike (more on that below) Norm Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute (a right wing think thank) put the lie to all Gonzales' hapless blatherings. He said "there is no doubt that the ouster" [of the prosecu'tors] "was done for political reasons." And he reminds us that Gonzales "and his minions were eager to use a buried provision" [in the Patriot Act] "to avoid Senate scrutiny of their successors... No self-respecting conservative should let" any Attorney General, or any White House, "or any wielder of awesome government power, get away with this stuff."

Among the conservative members of Congress who seem to agree with Ornstein are Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) who is still admitting he's friends with Gonzales but said "he will have to answer for this." Sununu went further, demanding that Bush fire him. Lindsey Graham said the Department of Justice's handling was "clumsy and unseemly"-- and unless you're an anal retentive closeted gay person like Lin you don't know what a complete put-down that is, girl. McCain, muttering darkly that "it's not the way things should be done," said he supports an investigation into the firing (the prosecutors', not Gonzales'). And Darrell Issa (R-CA) said if Gonzales misled "he's got to go," and there are even rumors circulating that Rove wants to shove him overboard, give him some kind of medal and find someone new.