I'd love to be wrong, but why am I supposed to believe that the Congress that couldn't uphold the Fourth Amendment will turn down Bush's choice for Attorney General?
Here's how it'll go down:
17 September: Gonzales actually goes.
18 September: Bush appoints Michael Chertoff to take his place.
20 September: A few Senate Democrats say Chertoff is an awful.
22 September: In his weekly radio address, Bush whines that 1) he's the Appointerer; 2) the Democrats are leaving us open to The Terraists by leaving the all-important job of Attorney General open.
24 September: Bush starts putting in his every public utterance the number of days the job of Attorney General, which suddenly has become the first, last and only line of defence against The Terraists, has been left open.
25 September: By a magical coincidence, everyone on Fox News puts into their stories the number of days the job of Attorney General, which suddenly has become the first, last and only line of defence against The Terraists, has been left open.
26 September: Fox News starts running a permanent upper-left-corner graphic showing the days, hours and minutes that the job of Attorney General has been left open. "Democrats Leave America Vulnerable - Day 10."
27 September: The three major broadcast networks put into their stories the number of days the job of Attorney General, which Every Smart, Serious Person in Washington knows is the first, last and only line of defence against The Terraists, has been left open by the Democrats.
28 September: During his confirmation hearing, Michael Chertoff snarls that "I don't expect to" break any laws in the performance of his job as Attorney General. Senate Democrats proclaim a major concession and predict peace in our time. An hour later, the White House releases a statement clarifying that Chertoff is only obliged not to break the law if his gut tells him that no Americans will be killed by The Terraists.
30 September: Someone on The Chris Matthews Show mentions that when Bill Clinton was president, the Republican Congress left dozens of judgeships open. There is a stunned silence before someone says that 9/11 changed everything, and they quickly go to commercial.
1 October: Michael Chertoff is confirmed as Attorney General.