NY Times reports Gonzales has resigned as AG

brief moment of joy. inhale, exhale.

now try to think of who could possibly be worse because that's who will get the nomination/recess appointment.

Can one recess appoint the AG?

This rumor from a couple of days back suggests Chertoff. Great.

All I care about is: are the boobs still covered up on Lady Justice? THINK OF THE CHILDREN, PEOPLE!!!

One name isn't going to solve anything when the whole system is sick.

It's getting crazy, though. Like, are any key original (or in Gonzales' case, second appointees) people gonna be left by the time the president guy leaves office?

I would have sworn he'd hang in there for the rest of the term, probably under Bush's orders so the admin could avoid an painful confirmation hearing.

Yeah, like I said, things are getting crazy... I feel like it began with the weird 2000 election thing, when everything folded over or crumpled over onto itself into some nightmare aberration of whatever already depressing thing the U.S. was turning into, and finally over the past year and a half or so, things have begun to unfold or uncrumble into some weird pattern, and it's still a complete mystery as to whether the administration will yet exploit all of this in some entirely sinister fashion, or if things will continue to return to a slightly more benign, if still depressing version of whatever this country was/is supposed to be.

While it's great to see the motherfucker gone, anyone Bush appoints is going to be a motherfucker.

Bill in Chicago OTMFM.

No. The person filling Gonzales' shoes will be much worse than that.

shuffling the deck chairs etc.

So who's the iceberg, then?

WEHRE'S ED MEESE?

Drudge report is all fires and Owen Wilson this morning.

dKos - Gonzales Does Not Remember Resigning

re iceberg, it sure ain't Reid-Pelosi

sigh, yeah. Pelosi is bummah. And so is Tara Reid.

Oh wait, did you mean Harry Reid? Oh. Erm. Yeah.

WHY NOW ???

maybe something worse is going on that everyone's attention should be diverted away from?

like the official assesssments that Iraq will never be a democracy?

it's freaky, though, i tell ya. rove/gonzales in such rapid succession.

would a democrat congress confirm a chertoff

No more than they wd ever pass new wiretapping autority without reading the bill. OOPS

ha thats exactly waht i was thinking

chertoff would get confirmed in record time. he's teflon, even after letting brownie do a heck of a job, nobody pointed at chertoff.

the TSA sucks? the border patrol can't do their job either? couldn't possibly have anything to do with chertoff!

really i recall him being somewhat pointed at

for one news cycle. like it never happened.

Reid says Chertoff should resign

he hasn't done anything blatantly partisan enough to make him a worthwhile target. his ongoing inaction on the HS grant program and unwillingness to rock the budget boat for his own agencies' needs helps prop up the pork pump system, though, so his leaving DHS might be seen as a bad thing and make him a big target all of a sudden.

haha so basically that article proves that reid WOULD confirm him as AG in a heartbeat

uh

maybe something worse is going on that everyone's attention should be diverted away from?

-- StanM, Monday, 27 August 2007 13:42 (15 minutes ago) Link

like the official assesssments that Iraq will never be a democracy?

-- Dr Morbius, Monday, 27 August 2007 13:43 (13 minutes ago) Link

By that logic, there's been reason enough for AG to resign as a "distraction" at any moment during the last two years or so.

The Corner quietly hopes that Robert Bork is exhumed.

Drudge has the story too now: (red letters, no flashlights yet)

ADIOS...
GONZALES QUITS...
BUSH MIGHT RECESS APPOINT...
ADMINISTRATION EXPRESSES 'RELIEF'...
Leading replacement candidates: Hatch, Silberman, Fielding... MORE...

maybe something worse is going on that everyone's attention should be diverted away from?

plans to bomb Iran probably

http://www.blinne.org/photos/uncategorized/siren.gifhttp://www.blinne.org/photos/uncategorized/siren.gifhttp://www.blinne.org/photos/uncategorized/siren.gif

FIXD

I can't remember whether you can just do a straight-up recess appointment or not, but they can def. call a pro forma session of a handful of senators/representatives to push it through.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, issued a statement reacting to Alberto Gonzales' resignation Monday.

"Alberto Gonzales was never the right man for this job. He lacked independence, he lacked judgment, and he lacked the spine to say no to Karl Rove," he 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."

There'll be no recess appointments this time around, Roll Call reports (sub. req.), meaning the White House won't be taking advantage of Congress' vacation to install any contested nominees. That's due to a deal between Bush and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).

Last recess, the White House made a number of controversial recess appointments, including Swift Boat backer Sam Fox as ambassador to Belgium. In order to prevent that sort of thing from happening again, Reid had plotted to keep the Senate in "pro forma" session during the recess -- whereby the Senate floor personnel show up every three days to make it an official session. But now Reid and Bush have made a deal, according to Roll Call. Bush won't make any recess appointments and Reid has promised to move some of his nominees when Senate gets back in session.

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/003913.php

Oooo, quick updates @ drudge:

REPORT: Chertoff is the replacement...
Reid: 'Never the right man for the job'...
Schumer: He's 'done the right thing and stepped down'...
Kennedy: 'I strongly urge President Bush to nominate a new attorney general who will respect our laws'...
Edwards: 'Better late than never'...

I would assume he stepped down now because pressure is a little less, therefore it looks less like he was forced out and more like "it was time to go." No?

Seems more likely than the "distraction" theory, which is nonsense. Ongoing hearings make a way better distraction than resignation, and most of the country isn't going to be all that distracted by either one anyway.

ILXors be lovin Wag the Dog too much.

The acting attorney general with be Solicitor General Paul Clement. He "can stay in that position for quite a while," a senior administration official said.

That would avoid a bruising confirmation fight. Some Democratic senators have vowed not to confirm a Gonzales successor. . . .

An administration official explained: An individual may serve in an acting capacity for 210 days. However, if there is a pending nominee, the 210 day "clock" starts again when a nominee is announced. The 210 day "clock" would restart again if the nominee is voted down. The clock stops when there's a nominee, and restarts with a new 210 days if the nomination is withdrawn or fails.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0807/5522.html

more drudge sirens please

resignation video http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/051628.php

I wonder if Gonzales timed this to let Michael Vick take some of the cable news airtime.

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tmz.com/media/2007/08/0827_vick_jesus.jpg

Bush statement, only mentions War On Terror (TM) once:

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8R9FHVO0&show_article=1

Some Democratic senators have vowed not to confirm a Gonzales successor

Classic. I'd love to see those names.

Some Democratic senators have vowed not to confirm a Gonzales successor

They will if it's Joe Lieberman. Who defended Gonzales' torture memo. Bonus, the senate then goes Republican by virtue of Republican gov of CT.

Whee!

The lefty commentary I've seen on such a scenario sounds apocalyptic. My freakout adrenal system is too exhausted for me to join in that fun. I've written off seeing anything from this Senate that will help to right our Constitutional crisis.