Did Bush save Gonzales?
ROSSPUTIN.COM BLOG
In Political Opinion
In my note on Tuesday, I predicted that the resignation of Alberto Gonzales was "80% likely in less than a month, more than 50/50 by the end of March, and nearly 50/50 within a week".
I was (pleasantly) surprised to see President Bush give such a forceful defense of the US Attorneys firings yesterday evening. It is unusual to see Bush show any spine at all in domestic policy, but maybe having lost the Congress to the Democrats has changed his approach.
Bush said, correctly and politely, that this hubbub should never have been an issue, but that Democrats were trying to "score political points" with it. That's true as far as it goes, but as I mentioned yesterday, Gonzales has some serious responsibility for letting the firings become a political issue at all. He should either have explained it much better at the time of the firings, or come out much more aggressively when recent questions came up, properly arguing that the President can fire US Attorneys at his pleasure.
It would certainly be a concern if a US Attorney was fired for investigating a Republican. My guess is that is not what happened, and certainly won't be proven.
President Bush's offer of information and limited access to interviewing his personnel is more than a President in a strong political position would have had to do, but I think it was a bold and intelligent move.
It will be very hard for Democrats to come back with subpoenas without looking like the lowest form of partisan hacks, which they essentially are, in my humble opinion. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), one of the lowest of the low, immediately responded to President Bush's proposal by saying "this plan won't work", something he was going to say no matter what Bush offered short of Karl Rove's head on a platter. Bush may be a weakened President but he is still President, and Schumer picks a fight with him at the Democrats' peril.
Still, despite the President's strong vote of confidence in Alberto Gonzales, I don't think he'll be Attorney General for much longer, and I think my prediction percentages are only slightly too high, or slightly too soon. |
