Using Al

Poor Alberto Gonzales. At one point, he was considered a top pick for Bush to anoint to the Supreme Court. Unfortunately, Al happened to make the mistake of having the wrong colored skin, and that's a big no-no in the Republican Party. Dumb, Al. Just dumb.

And so with the top court out of reach he got totally screwed over by being appointed Attorney General. I don't know if he knew it was a dumb move at the time, but it was. Because the Bushies didn't give him the job because they thought he was Mr. Legal Eagle or would know how to effectively run the DOJ. They wanted a Yes-Man. Someone to do their dirty work for him. And Al did it. Whatever he was told.

For as much as people have attacked Gonzales, he really never did anything wrong. He was always a spineless Yes-Man and that's how he filled the role. What choice did he have? Once they asked him, he had to say yes. Can you say to a rainbow "Hey, stop being a rainbow for a second?" No. Such was Gonzales. Besides, they wouldn't have given him the job otherwise. God knows they couldn't risk hiring another loose cannon like Ashcroft. He actually said no to them a few times!

And so I find it funny to read Bush say this:
“It’s sad that we live in a time when a talented, honorable person like Alberto Gonzales is impeded from doing important work because his good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons.”

And that's funny because there was a group of people who dragged Gonzales through the mud for political reason, and Bush was the head of that group. They were the ones who made him do the things that get him in trouble. His only mistake was being born without a spine, but he was just following orders. And so this is all Bush's fault. And the people who surround Bush. If he doesn't like the treatment Gonzales got, he needs only to look in the mirror to see where the blame lies.

And I don't doubt at all that Bush is upset to lose Gonzales. First off, he's a bully who hates being bullied, so that's got to sting. And secondly, I'm sure he considers Al to be a good friend. Because bullies like Bush like people they can use, and he used Al extensively. That's what got them both in trouble. Like most bullies, Bush needs someone to make him take his medicine, and his attorney general needed to be one of those guys. But instead, he got someone who couldn't say "YES" fast enough, and is now in all kinds of trouble a more spineful AG could have kept him out of.

And now he's "resigning". But it's obvious this wasn't his decision, and I'm sure Bush is pissed about it. And so the final irony is seeing Al fall on his own sword which, as usual, he wasn't even holding; and simply to protect a president who doesn't even have the brains to know he needs protection.

Question: If someone's trimming all the diseased wood from the Bush Administration, shouldn't Cheney be next? I wonder how impossible it would be to stage a convenient "heart attack" for the guy. You know, one he could go back to Wyoming and recover from; while Bush appoints a more likable replacement. Just a thought.