Thoughts on the Gonzo resignation

There has been no lack of chatter about the motivation behind the resignation of Alberto Gonzales. At first glance, it could also be that Gonzales was tired of being hauled to Capitol Hill and publicly flogged for lying to Congress.

But, I think that BushCo has a larger reason behind the resignation. We've clearly seen that the Democratic Congress is not (yet) capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time. For instance, there are lots of hearings investigating the utter corruption that exists in the Administration. But, nothing substantive has yet to come from it.

With Alberto Gonzales gone, the Senate will need to confirm a new nominee. Lots of conventional thinking is that the President will appoint someone who will gain easy approval of the Senate, which is incredibly wary Bush nominees. Today's Washington Post reports that Bush is 'willing to fight for the right nominee'. This is the signal I was looking for.

The White House has stonewalled any attempt to investigate pretty much anything that has occurred there since January of 2001. We now find ourselves five months away from the start of the 2008 Presidential nominating contests. If BushCo can make it into 2008 without a major breach in their stonewalling efforts, they are likely to get off scott free. There is no indication that the Democratic nominee or the Democratic Congress have the political wherewithal to see this through to the bitter end.

Since the Republicans have made an art form out of exploiting the weaknesses of Democrats, the White House has surely found this as their final chess move to prevent the success of the investigations of corruption. By appointing an Attorney General that will create controversy, he will tie up the Senate for a couple of months. If indeed, he appoints Michael Chertoff, he could tie up the Senate for the rest of the year, creating two cabinet vacancies for Bush to fill. These confirmation fights, combined with the expert obstructionism of Mitch McConnell is all the White House needs.

Instead, Democrats in Congress need to act swiftly and stay focused on the important mission of getting to the bottom of every scandalous and corrupt action of this Administration. The success of this effort is important to the future of our political system.