Don't Let the Doorknob Hit You, Alberto

Politricks As Usual Week begins...

If you've been reading AvBro over the past couple of weeks, you've probably noticed a distinct change of topics from our usual politics and bullsh*t to more sports, entertainment, and general Negroes Behaving Badly type bullsh*t. This isn't by design.

Believe me, I'd love to blog about more substantial topics than drunken starlets and rapidly copulating athletes, but to be honest, it's a been a slow news summer for things that actually matter.

Summer's over.

Yesterday, deliberately (you can't convince me otherwise, the timing is too coincidental) obscured by the continuing Mike Vick WitchHunt (BTW, I thought Vick was honest, sincere, and genuinely contrite in his apology) were a couple of bombshells. I'll get to the Senator Larry Craig Gay Sex Scandal in a moment.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, after years of bumbling ineptitude and ride or die loyalty to the President finally stepped down. I sure as hell hope that history remembers Bush's presidency as one of not only war, but constant internal scandal. Between Harriet Miers, Rod Paige, Tom Ridge, Paul Wolfowitz, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, Randall Tobias, Karl Rove, Bernard Kerik (briefly) and now Gonzales, the unemployment list of Bush appointees who fell from grace and were removed when it was too late to make a difference is staggering.

Gonzales, whether knowingly or through pure ignorance, did a lot of things wrong. Guantanamo Bay. Secret wiretaps. Firing federal attorneys who weren't Bush cronies. Selective amnesia. Possible perjury. It's a wonder that he didn't get kicked to the curb sooner.

Like many things Bush once hung his hat on (ie: take credit for record levels of home ownership in the early 2000's, but remain silent on record foreclosures now) but now conveniently forgets, I wonder how the whole "Cabinet that looks like America" mantra he once trumpeted sounds to him right now. Reality is, Bush appointed Gonzales (legal counsel, then Atty General), Rod Paige (Education), Condoleeza Rice (National Security Advisor, then Secretary of State), Powell (State), Elaine Chao (labor), and Alphonso Jackson (HUD) just as much for their race as he did for their capabilities.

Judging by how Powell (didn't agree with powers that be on Iraq), Paige (No Child Left Behind was a bust), and now Gonzales (a total and complete cluster) were all run out of office for failing to carry out Bush's mandates, I wonder how ole' girl Condoleeza is feeling about her job security today. In my loosely educated opinion, Gonzales was just a pawn in the game: hired to pander to a voting populace, dangled as a token Hispanic, and hung out to dry once he was deemed more of a liability than an asset. I think the man is only guilty of doing exactly what he was told to do, and nothing more. And when you think about it, that is a crime of sorts.

Happy trails, Alberto.

Embattled Gonzales Resigns [WaPost]