Welcome to Gonzales Watch - Blawging the Ex-Attorney General

Thirteen years of unwavering loyalty to George W. Bush, and an inability to separate partisan politics from his ability to honestly serve the American people. That is the big picture of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales newly announced resignation.

What did Gonzales’ boss have to say? That he received “months of unfair treatment,” and that the attorney will be remembered as “a man of integrity, decency and principle.”

It’s a classic Washington game of doublespeak.

Bush alleged that Gonzales’ “good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons.” In other words, Gonzales’ increasing inability to tell the truth before the American people and Congress about the politically-motivated firings of U.S. Attorneys is nothing more than partisan criticism.

Perhaps more than any other U.S. official in history, Gonzales is likely to best be remembered for his forgetfulness. “I don’t recall,” was the standard refrain of the head of the country’s highest law enforcement agency responsible.

One observer keenly noted that:

On September 17, he’ll show up at the AG’s office.
His erstwhile replacement will ask, “Didn’t you resign?”
And he’ll answer: “I don’t recall.”

Gonzales will also be remembered for his Nixonian defensiveness, repeatedly telling the country that he “did nothing wrong” in terminating federal prosecutors who weren’t “loyal Bushies.”