The handwriting seems on the wall for Attorney General Gonzales — or, rather, the wall has fallen on top of him — given with THIS editorial from the conservative-icon magazine National Review. Here are two main sections:
If congressional Democrats are wrong to bluster, however, they are within their rights to investigate. They may yet turn up enough evidence to prove that some of the firings were improper violations of political norms.
We do not need more evidence, however, to reach a conclusion about the suitability of Alberto Gonzales for the leadership of the Department of Justice. While we defended him from some of the outlandish charges made during his confirmation hearings, we have never seen evidence that he has a fine legal mind, good judgment, or managerial ability. Nor has his conduct at any stage of this controversy gained our confidence.
The killer is the final paragraph:
What little credibility Gonzales had is gone. All that now keeps him in office, save the friendship of the president, is the conviction of many Republicans that removing him would embolden the Democrats. It is an overblown fear. The Democrats will pursue scandals, real or invented, whether or not Gonzales stays. But they have an especially inviting target in Gonzales. He cannot defend the administration and its policies even when they deserve defense. Alberto Gonzales should resign. The Justice Department needs a fresh start.
Read it in full.
If Bush keeps him on, given how Congressional GOPers are now distancing themselves from Gonzales faster than pet owner throwing out wet pet food, Bush will remain even more isolated — propping Gonzales up with talking points, vows of solidarity, and the usual campaign to get out the stand of the day via friendly radio and cable talk show hosts (who at times seemingly rip and read the same points).
FOOTNOTE: What seems to be unspoken in all of this, is that if Gonzales suddenly resigns to spend more time with his family his critics and Democrats in particular could live to regret it. Gonzales was never highly popular with conservatives and perhaps his replacement will be someone more to the liking of conservatives, more eloquent and more politically shrewd.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.