August 27, 2007
Goodbye Alberto! Attorney General Gonzales Resigns
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Embattled U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has resigned, senior administration officials told CNN Monday. President Bush is expected to make a statement about Gonzales at 11:30 a.m. from his ranch in Crawford, Texas, where he has been vacationing.Gonzales' aides at the highest level and other top level officials knew nothing about the announcement in advance, Justice Department sources indicated to CNN. They were not informed until a meeting this morning, sources said, when Gonzales acknowldeged he would be reading a statement at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Fellas, the rest is here. This is long overdue in my opinion. His last few years have been a disaster. It's too bad because I think he was in the queue for a supreme court nomination.
History will not treat Bush's second term with much kindness.
Posted by anthony at August 27, 2007 09:22 AM | TrackBackUmmm, i think you mean ALberto. Now, if only the President and Vice-President would follow Gonzo on the way out...THAT would be some progress!
Posted by: christopher at August 27, 2007 09:49 AMAnthony, I definitely think you are right. Gonzales' departure has been a long time coming (though I'm still surprised by it). I also think you're right about Bush's second term - though I doubt it will be as bad as his popularity seems to be right now. Presidents (usually, not always) seem to get a second honeymoon after they leave the Oval Office and, of course, it is usually only kind words that are spoken after they die. It will be interesting to see how his second four years are viewed fifty years from now.
Posted by: Jeff Kerr at August 27, 2007 10:08 AMqueue
Posted by: barlow at August 27, 2007 11:07 AMthanks! Spell checker missed that one.
Posted by: Anthony at August 27, 2007 11:23 AMI wonder why he decided to resign now and not a few months earlier. It seems like Bush had to spend a lot of political capital backing him. Maybe they just wanted to be the ones making the decision and not just succumb to the wishes of the Dems?
Posted by: Paul Franks at August 27, 2007 11:33 AMI herd he was going to get deported
If you were in their position, wouldn't you do the same, Paul? Frankly, the whole furor over him the last few months is such ridiculous blabber. Perhaps Gonzalez was not doing the best that could be done, but he shouldn't have "had" to resign due to the mob press reasons that are what really effected the resignation.
I think he would've made a good Justice. The AG's office can't be an easy one to fill, and what makes a good potential Justice does not always make a good AG.
Posted by: dramaturge at August 27, 2007 04:18 PMdramaturge, I think that very well could've been the reason but I kind of hope it isn't. If he should've resigned awhile ago then he should've resigned then. Who cares if the Dems thought they got their way? But, if he shouldn't have resigned back then, then screw the Dems and spend all the capital you need to keep him in office. It just seems like keeping him around for spite is bad for the country. Personally, I think Gonzales realized his last decision could be the one that helps Bush the most.
Posted by: Paul Franks at August 27, 2007 05:01 PMPerhaps. Those are good points. I'm not really sure that he should've resigned at all, but I'm sure there was hope that the furor would blow over. Unfortunately, when Congress has barely a double-digit approval rating, nothing blows over. I think your last sentence is right on. And it's possible he posited resignation earlier on, but was denied in the hope that they could gut through.
Posted by: dramaturge at August 27, 2007 07:40 PM