Bedtime for Gonzo

During his most recent disasterous testimony to Congress (It's important to stipulate because there have been several instances of disasterous testimony by now.), Alberto Gonzales was asked by Senator Kohl, "What keeps you in the job, Mr. Attorney General?"

He replied: "Ultimately I have to decide whether or not it's better for me to leave or just stay and try to fix the problems. I've decided to stay and fix the problems."

We may never know the real reason for his resignation. Indeed, in a breach of Washington ettiquette, we weren't even offered the standard lie about "...spending more time with my family." We can safely conclude that he was not, in fact, staying to fix the problems because he only stayed for another month which was hardly time to do the fixing that needed to be done. More fundamentally, his staying WAS a problem recognizable to anyone and everyone with the possible exception of President Bush.

So, in typical Bush style, what may have been limited to a simple poor decision (Rumsfeld as SecDef, Meyers as a SCOTUS nominee, Gonzales as AG) is drawn out in agonizing fashion thereby ensuring that political damage to the administration is maximized and the benefits of reversing the decision are seemingly minimized. Stubborness, meanwhile, is a virtue held dear.

The one obvious externality from the intervening month between Gonzales' "fix the problem" delcararation and his resignation is the resignation of Bush's Brain (aka Karl Rove). This leads some to believe that the primary role of Gonzales was to be a human punching bag and absorb hits from the Democrats and media that would otherwise be directed at Rove. With Rove leaving, Gonzales lost his "job" and utility.

This is an appealing theory. After all, Gonzales was an EXCELLENT casting decision as a bumbling target: a less ethical more dour version of Inspector Jacques Clouseau. Alas, I believe the timing has more to do with White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolton's Herculean task to salvage the remainder of the Bush presidency.

One last thing: in Gonzales' resignation statement yesterday, he added a curious line:

Even my worst days as Attorney General have been better than my father’s best days.

I say, not lightly, what a terrible thing to say about one's father.