Monday morning water cooler 8.27.07

Wow - two great Monday mornings in August where we've been greeted with the news that a top Bush-Cheney administration official is gone, daddy, gone. Alberto Gonzales has resigned as attorney general, effective September 17. With the departures of Don Rumsfeld, Karl Rove, and now Gonzales, we have seen the exodus of three of the most damaging figures in recent American history. This is great news indeed, even though the resignations appear to be bald-faced attempts to thwart Congressional checks and balances on the administration's ethical and legal breaches - and even though the biggest crook of all is still in office.

John Nichols writes on TheNation.com that Democractic-led investigations into Gonzales, Rove, and others have "hit the administration hard -- so hard that the president is now jettisoning his oldest and closest aides in order to prevent the inquiry from evolving into a serious examination of his own lawlessness. ... The important thing now is to make sure that the administration does not succeed in using high-profile departures to shut down -- or, at the very least, to diminish the seriousness and the extent of -- those inquiries." (Full article here.)

Update 2:20 p.m.: Jill has a ssssmokin essay at New West on reports that Bush may appoint Michael Chertoff to succeed Gonzales. And in the comments below, Tara notes that Gonzo will step down on the most fitting day possible: Constitution Day.

Comments

[theresa]

Nods and in the words of our neighbor from Nevada ...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said: "This resignation is not the end of the story. Congress must get to the bottom of this mess and follow the facts where they lead, into the White House."

t

[jacqueline]

Even if they all leave it doesn't stop an investigation. Good riddance though!

[Julie in Boise]

Good riddance indeed - and more fodder for the historians who will chronicle the unraveling of the worst presidency in U.S. history.

[Jim Hansen]

Two months ago when Gonzales came to Idaho, 100+ ordinary people greeted him and we invited him to resign so the healing to America's reputation in the world can begin. No one on the national level will remember how shaken Gonzales and his crew were when they left Boise that day. But many of us know it was only a matter of weeks before he would figure it out and leave.

The myth that people in the heart of America support Bush's policies on torture, domestic spying and the endless occupation of Iraq itself is just that, a myth. Rove figured that out and jumped ship (no doubt to do his work under even less public scrutiny) and now the AG figured out this ship of immoral policies is sinking so he's gone overboard...

Now, it's time for our members of Congress to stand up and and recognize that all this jumping overboard means this ship has to be turned around! Join us on Tuesday night if you are in Boise to tell them so.

[Julie in Boise]

Yay, Jim, and thanks for organizing that event in June. Here are links to my coverage of the protest:

http://redstaterebels.typepad.com/red_state_rebels/2007/06/gonzales-chicke.html

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/6/26/192316/561

Hey, when 100 people turn out in Boise, Idaho, with a day's notice on a sweltering summer day, you KNOW it's the beginning of the end ... and it was!

[Julie in Boise]

Jim, I will post a front-page reminder of tomorrow night's meeting and this week's other end-the-war events later today. I will try to do a diary at Kos, too.

[Jim Hansen]

Thanks, Julie. All the wonderful people I met at the Western Idaho State Fair over the past 10 days who care about their country and want the occupation to end have fueled my commitment even more...

[Tara Rowe]

Has everyone missed the significance of Gonzo leaving office on September 17th? If my math is correct (wouldn't bank on this), September 17, 2007 will mark the 220th anniversary of the adoption of the U.S. Constitution. 9/17 has always been my favorite day of the year, so it wasn't lost on me, but I find it very fitting that in celebration of our Nation's greatest document we will be saying farewell to one of the greatest offenders of that very document.

[The Nickel-Plated JA]

I'm skeptical. This is a "be careful what you wish for" moment if ever there was one: The White House sans Rove and Gonzo is much like the abusive alcoholic promising to change and making 12-step-ish noises; it's an overture to the codependent nature of the elecorate, to try and neutralize the playing field going into next year's elections. For some reason, the American public acts like it *wants* to love the Republicans no matter the amount of abuse involved.

[Julie in Boise]

Tara, that is a GREAT connection and coincidence.

NPJA, I hear ya. But perhaps it's only the Idaho electorate that feels that way. Our fellow Americans are abandoning the GOP in droves. Check out the latest stuff from Greenberg et al:

http://www.greenbergresearch.com/index.php?ID=2069

[Irwin Horowitz]

In reading Greenberg's piece, one thing strikes me. What happens to all you women when you get married? (note tongue planted deeply in cheek :-).