Get load of this story from the AP on the N.Y. Times Web site.
The headline? Gonzales offers mea culpa to attorneys.
Well, you can't get more pathetic than this. First Alberto Gonzales fires 8 of his prosecutors for political reasons. Then he lies about it to Congress. Then it comes out he was going to fire all 92 prosecutors.
OK. You are a US attorney. You're probably not stupid. In most cases, you are doing a fine job. And I imagine its hard enough sometimes to maintain a bipartisan stance. And then this comes out, making you look like a partisan hack.
Also, if you are part of the surviving 84, you know that you were almost fired. And then the guy who was part of the plot,and the guy who is supposed to be on your team, calls you together for a pep talk? Gee, how much bitterness to you think was on the other side of that conference call.
Just look at this story:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, facing another tough week amid calls for his ouster, has offered a mea culpa to the nation's 93 U.S. attorneys for the way the Justice Department fired eight of their colleagues.
During the conference call Friday, planned as a pep talk to raise morale at a Justice Department tainted by the firings and the FBI's misuse of the Patriot Act, Gonzales apologized for how the dismissals were handled and for suggesting there were problems with the prosecutors' job performances, according to an official familiar with the conversation.
Well, hey, performance evaluations and misusing the Patriot act, that's only a small part of the Attorney General's job, right?
But the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose details of the call, said Gonzales did not apologize for firing the eight U.S. attorneys, a decision he and President Bush have defended.
Of course, never say your sorry. You're planning shit that is much worse than this.
Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said Saturday the call was set up to allow Gonzales to reiterate ''how important the U.S. attorneys are to him as his representatives in the communities they serve and as prosecutors charged with protecting their communities from violent criminals, drug dealers and predators.''
Oh, did he forget to say Democrats? He didn't say crooked Republicans. Such bullshit. He sees the attorneys as his political pawns used to defend King George.
The call was made the same day that his former top aide, who resigned last week amid the controversy, denied that he purposefully withheld information from Justice Department officials who misled Congress about the firings.
More lying, amongst thieves. Who would have thunk it.
Kyle Sampson, the attorney general's former chief of staff, said in a statement released by his lawyer that several senior officials were aware the Justice Department and the White House ''had been discussing the subject since the election'' of 2004.
Well, replacing attorneys with political hacks is one way to protect your mandate.
E-mail exchanges involving Sampson and others, including officials at the White House, support Sampson's assertion, which contradicts claims by Gonzales that he had been in the dark about the way his former top aide had carried out the dismissals and that there were not political motives behind the firings. The e-mails indicate discussions about the dismissals involved Gonzales while he was still White House counsel in late 2004 or early 2005.
Lying little rat. With a lying little rat record.
Congressional Democrats allege that some U.S. attorneys were purged for either investigating Republicans or failing to pursue cases against Democrats. Top Justice Department officials told Congress that the dismissals were based on the prosecutors' performance.
See, Congressional Democrats smelled a rat.
As the dispute has escalated, Republicans, including Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California and Sen. John Sununu of New Hampshire have joined Democrats in calling for his resignation.
''The attorney general cannot continue to serve in this capacity,'' Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Saturday in Chicago.
''The attorney general has lost the confidence of the American people as well as members of Congress,'' Durbin said. ''I don't believe he can restore it. I think it's time for the president to acknowledge that fact and ask for his resignation.''
It seems that if Gonzales had to address all of his U.S. attorneys, it's a good bet that he lost their confidence, too. A point the story fails to make.
Bush ''has full confidence in the attorney general,'' White House spokesman Blair Jones said Saturday.
He has 'full confidence' that Gonzales will resign by Monday.
The week ahead poses several more risks for Gonzales.
At this point, getting up in the morning is risky for Gonzales.
On Monday, the Justice Department plans to turn over to Congress more documents that could provide more details of the role agency officials -- including Gonzales -- and top White House officials played in planning the prosecutors' dismissals.
Gee, more lies. How does he blame the Democrats.
On Tuesday, the White House is expected to announce whether it will let former White House counsel Harriet Miers, political strategist Karl Rove and other presidential advisers testify before Congress -- and whether it will release more documents to lawmakers, including additional e-mails and other items. That decision was to be made on Friday, but the White House asked for more time.
Throw Miers and Rove into the fire now or later?
On Thursday, lawmakers are scheduled to quiz Gonzales about his agency's budget request, but likely will ask questions about the scandal, too.
Like, like how much money is there in the Lying line item. Isn't that line showing a surplus? The Truth line item is showing a deficit, Mr. Gonzales. Why don't you have any Truth left? Was that ever in the budget?
Also on Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a vote on whether to authorize subpoenas for Miers; her deputy, William K. Kelley; and Rove, who said the controversy is being fueled by ''superheated political rhetoric.''
Democrats need more bodies to twist slowly in the wind. Plenty of room on the Truth gallows in Congress, boys and girls.
The panel already has approved using subpoenas, if necessary, for Justice Department officials and J. Scott Jennings, deputy to White House political director Sara Taylor, who works for Rove.
Yeah, subpoena Rove, his staff, his family, his neighbors, his dead relatives, his dog. Drag them all up to Capitol Hill. Ask yourselves this, Democrats, WWRD, or What Would Rove Do? Let that be your guide.
And if Gonzales doesn't have enough on his plate, two congressional panels are holding hearings on the FBI's misuse of the USA Patriot Act to secretly pry out personal information about Americans.
Enough on his plate? I dare say the FBI misuse of the Patriot Act is more like dessert.
A Newsweek poll released on Saturday indicated that a majority of the public -- 58 percent -- believes the firing of the U.S. attorneys was politically motivated. Fewer than one-third of the 1,001 adults surveyed on March 14 and 16, want Gonzales to stay in his job. Slightly more than one-third say he should quit. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Oh where, oh where did Bush's mandate go. Or where, oh where has it been?
The question is, is there any poll out there in which 60 percent of America hates what Bush is doing and only like 30 percent support him?
OK, some of you may hate the way the Democrats are handling the opposition to the war right now, but this Gonzales scandal is sure ringing a lot of bells. I think the American people are starting to think they are getting their money's worth out of this Congress, and its only 2 months old.
By the way, say you are secretary of Agriculture, Labor, State, whatever. You think you are up late at night burying the skeletons in your closet?