Okay, next let's hold a "Confidence" vote
GOP backs Gonzales .. were any of us surprised? And it's really bad when Democrats can't even push through a no-confidence vote on a serially incompetent political lackey .. the head of the danged Justice Dept. no less.
And that Bush's sheer pigheadedness would force the need for such a vote.
Well, that's okay -- at least now the Republicans OWN the mess in the Justice Dept. Clearly, Gonzales is still the preznit's personal lawyer .. not the people's lawyer .. AND follows orders from Rasputin Rove.
From the The Associated Press: "The 53-38 roll call Monday by which the Senate voted against considering a no-confidence vote on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Sixty votes were needed to bring up the resolution.[..]"
So, the Republicans decided to stick together and stick up for Gonzales. Maybe they didn't want to weaken Bush even more. Maybe Ronnie Regan's 13th commandment kicked in -- thou shalt not dis a fellow Republican.
They should be thinking about 2008 .. because voters will only remember that Republicans have been defending Gonzales.
It's understandable that Democrats wanted to win this vote .. BUT, on another level, they may have lost the battle, yet won the war. Gonzales is highly unpopular, not only with Democrats, but Independent voters and many Republicans as well. The press and the late-night comedians reeeally like him. He continues to be high-profile, a symbol of cronyism and incompetence .. with just a dash of sleaze.
So any negative Gonzales stories will continue to get front-page and top-of-the-newscast play. And there should be a clip of ol' George saying that Gonzales has done nothing wrong.
The righties know -- From skuzzy Robert Novack's June 11th column:
"Just when it seemed George W. Bush’s sinking prestige with his Republican base had bottomed out, his stock hit new lows. The president’s seeming indifference to the sentencing of Scooter Libby was bad enough. But it coincided with Bush’s apparent determination to retain his friend Alberto Gonzales as attorney general against congressional pressure to depose him.
....Prevailing opinion among Republican office holders, contributors and activists could not differ more from Bush’s posture. They regard Libby as a valuable public servant who faces serious prison time thanks to prosecutorial abuse made possible by Bush administration decisions. They see Gonzales as an embarrassment to the party who presides over a hollow Justice Department while presidential staffers search for Senate votes to block a no-confidence motion.
....One Republican who did not watch her words last week was Washington lawyer Victoria Toensing: “If the president can pardon 12 million illegal immigrants, he can pardon Scooter Libby.” Toensing is joining the procession supporting the still-unannounced run for president by Fred Thompson, who is unequivocal in his outrage over Libby’s fate and asserts that he would pardon him.
...In contrast, Republican insiders are enraged by Bush’s retention of Gonzales, whom they consider a political and governmental disaster. Beyond his affection for Gonzales, the president is reported to fear that a new attorney general could not be confirmed without pledging to name a special prosecutor to investigate the firing of U.S. attorneys. That explanation suggests a lame-duck regime, preferring to stay with a crippled, leaderless Justice Department.
