Blogs React to Gonzales Resignation

Blogs from across the political spectrum responded to the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales predictably, with liberals cheering, and conservatives quietly trying to split the difference between criticizing Gonzales and criticizing President Bush.

Phoenix Woman, writing at Mercury Rising, connected the dots back to the recent departure of Karl Rove, saying, “Gonzales was Rove’s firewall, and had to be protected so long as Rove was around; now that Rove’s gone, there was no need for him anymore.  But of course he couldn’t be allowed to resign too close to Rove’s departure, or there would be too much in the way of dot-connecting.”

Steve Benen of The Carpetbagger Report blasted Gonzales’ tenure. 

On warrantless-searches, the Military Commissions Act, policy on detainees at Guantanamo Bay, and the Geneva Conventions, Gonzales was a disaster. On actual law enforcement, crime rates went up under Gonzales’ watch. On managing the Justice Department, he filled his staff with Pat Robertson acolytes, feigned ignorance while structural disasters unfolded, and showed shocking tolerance for corruption and politicization of a department that, for the benefit of the nation and the rule of law, needed to maintain independence.

Flash of Centrisity joked, ” One thing is for sure, I can hear the President now . . .  ‘Heckuva Job, Gonzo!!’”  And Pam Spaulding of Pam’s House Blend asked, “When shall we expect to see him to receive a Medal of Freedom from Dear Leader?”

Christy Hardin Smith of Firedoglake said Gonzales’ resignation presented an “opportunity to put justice first and foremost at the DOJ, to restore the commitment to the rule of law and to remove the taint of politicized decision-making that the Bush Administration has tarnished the halls of justice with the last few years.”  But she lamented that this is “[t]he very sort of person that George Bush traditionally shuns in favor of political cronies and yes men.”

Duncan “Atrios” Black of Eschaton agreed, saying, “The top dog at the DOJ needs to not think of him/herself as the president’s personal lawyer, and Democrats should make independence a necessary condition for confirmation.”

And at TPM Cafe, which first brought to light the US attorney scandal that ultimately did Gonzales in, Spencer Ackerman lamented, “We may never see his like again. Well, at least not until the confirmation hearings for his successor.”

The right side of the aisle was more circumpect.  Ed Morissey at Captain’s Quarters wrote, “Gonzales clearly needed to go on a competency basis,” but added that “Bush was right when he talked about Congress dragging his name through the mud.”

Paul Mirengoff of Power Line agreed, saying, “Gonzales’s only real offense seems to have been mediocrity. But mediocrity in an Attorney General is nothing new (think Janet Reno), and any blame for this occurrence properly attaches to the White House.”  His co-blogger, John Hinderaker, praised Bush’s statement that Gonzales’ “good name was dragged through the mud,” saying, “Unfortunately, the administration has hit back against its Democratic opponents far too rarely and far too gently.”

Jeff Goldstein of Protein Wisdom blasted liberals for forcing the attorney general out, saying, “Gonzales had a tin-ear and was a political liability to Bush, sure; but the progressives wanted him out so desperately (and were joined by pragmatists among Republicans in wishing he would just go) that they made it a matter of necessity to force Bush’s hand. And I didn’t want to see the President bullied into asking for Gonzales resignation – mostly because I knew that, after, I’d have to listen to calls for the President to “reach out” to Democrats by, you know, filling the AG role with someone like Ramsey Clark.”

And Michelle Malkin suggested a back-to-the future repacement for Gonzales, saying, “If they want the best qualified, most experienced AG candidate who is serious about enforcing all of our laws, including our immigration laws, and who is best equipped to serve in a time of war, the choice would be obvious: John Ashcroft.”