Gonzales Resigns!

What can I say, I'm stunned by this news. After all the clamor and all calls for his resigntion had finally died down, and we'd moved on to other issues, why now? I don't know, but I do know that his resignation is proper.

This country operates (or should) based on the principle of rule of law. What does this mean? Does it mean that executive branch officers behave as automatons? No. Is it acceptable for a President to expect U.S. Attorneys to share (or operate as if they share) the priorities of the Whie House? Yes.

So what's the problem?

The problem is, while the President and/or Attorney General theoretically have the right to fire any U.S. Attorney at at any time for any reason, there is still at least one way that such action can be criminal: if it constitutes obstruction of justice.

Although it has been pointed out that there is no hard evidence that such crimes took place, the circumstantial evidence is compelling. New Mexico Senator Pete Domenici places call to U.S. Attorney David Iglesias. Domenici pressures Iglesias to more aggressively pursue investigations against Democrats ahead of the election. Iglesias resists said pressure. He is fired.

On the other side, Carol Lam, a U.S. Attorney in California, puts Randy "Duke " Cunningham, a corrupt Republican Congressman in jail, and is rewarded by...wait for it...by being fired.

This kind of circumstantial evidence is hardly enough to convict, but that's not that the point. Combined with the AG's highly suspect testimony to Congress (and of course, lying to Congress is a felony), quite enough reasonable doubt exists to cast doubt on DOJ's ability to carry out its primary mission: enforcement of the law.

So was Mr Gonzales the victim of a political smear campaign, as President Bush says? It seems highly unlikely that he would resign if that were true; consider all the guilty politicians who have refused to resign in similar situations. And of course we know they have been quietly preparing for this for some time. Then there's the adage that the truth lies somewhere between the two sides. In this case, the two sides both come down on the side of Mr Gonzales being untrustworthy and incompetent. The difference is only in degrees.

The bottom line is this administration has, from the very beginning engaged in an intense campaign to improperly politicize all levels of the executive branch, from making up their own science to firing anyone who disagrees with their inane ideas. They might be starting to realize that there is only so far you can push. Americans aren't the sheep the Bushies believed them to be.