Keep Alberto Gonzales!
I know, I know–he’s the perfect picture of an incompetent hack, protecting Presidential power to do just about anything, helping to solidify GOP strength among Latino voters, and still managing to tick off his boss for gumming up the works. “Al’s got work to do up there,” acknowledges the President. As I write on Thursday afternoon, I think I can hear the sound of sawing.
But listen, Democratic senators, he’s become the gift that keeps on giving! He writes memos justifying torture; fights Congressional oversight, and exposes this Administration for the sleazy, secretive, and anti-Constitutional bunch they really are. He could be the biggest gift to liberals, the ACLU, and to the Constitution since Richard Nixon’s bagman John Mitchell–who did jail time for Watergate offenses. (I never thought I’d post a Wikipedia entry, but I did read it first, and it’s pretty accurate; the links are great; and given the recent attack on Wikipedia by the creationist Conservapedia - check out their entry on dinosaurs here–I thought it was worth sticking up for. If you disagree, let me know.)
And liberals of a certain age will admit to a certain pleasure, shall we say, as the Nixon citadel crumbled in the Watergate summer of 1973. But I think the current batch of Administration scandals are fun not just because we’re watching the implosion of a government built on imperial self-righteous arrogance–but because they have revived a little Constitutional spirit and gumption among our elected officials, who undertook oaths of office to defend the entire Constitution, not just Article II, Section I (the part dealing with the President). So I think Alberto Gonzales is the Truebluest friend of the Constitution we’ve got right now, at least until November 4, 2008.
So, Trueblue friends, lighten up! Long live Attorney General Gonzales!