It was you, Fredo

For several months I have considered the continuing presence of Alberto Gonzales a personal failure on my part. I had wished him gone. I had said insulting things about him to my friends. I had written things about him, although I didn't quite finish any of them. He deserved to be gone. Nonetheless he was still there.

I just couldn't believe that a man who had lied under oath that often was still the attorney general of the United States. I couldn't believe that those of us on this side of things had been utterly ineffectual at getting rid of him. What's more, I have to admit, I became almost awestruck at his ability to hang in there. Which goes for the whole crew, by the way: say what you will about George Bush (and there is almost nothing I won't), he's still president, and it's amazing how much bad stuff you can continue to do as president even if your poll numbers are below 30.

In any case, Gonzales has resigned. I wish him a happy time hiring lawyers and living off the slush fund someone will set up for him. Soon we will know why he left at this particular moment. The mind reels at the possibilities. What could possibly be even worse than all the things he's survived? At some point we'll find out. Stay tuned.

I hope he's not worried about his legacy, because he will have one, and it will be not unlike what awaits almost all the members of this administration: they will be fodder for art. Yes, art. Dick Cheney said a couple of months ago that history would be his judge, but I beg to differ: history will be nothing compared to the plays. This administration will be the subject of hundreds of plays; the playwrights will be drawn again and again to the astonishing, amazing panoply of evil and complicity the Bush Administration has provided. Gonzales will be a hilarious comic foil in most of these productions -- a jack-in-the-box who will pop out, say he has no recollection whatsoever of anything, and pop back in. Short actors will kill to play him.

By the way, I have a pet theory about Alberto Gonzales: I've always believed that the reason the President called Gonzales Fredo was that when they first met, Bush incorrectly believed that Gonzales' first name was Alfredo, and Gonzales was too much of a toady to correct him.

I meant to download that theory before it was too late, and the good news is, where this administration is concerned, it's never going to be too late.

Comments

[oldschooldemocrat]

There's a reason Ms. Ephron has been one of my favorite essayists since I first bought her collection Wallflower at the Orgy. Thanks from a longtime reader. I like your Fredo theory a lot. It was always impossible to imagine Bush being capable of The Godfather allusion. That would require far too much self-awareness.
Bye Bye Alberto. It's been surreal.

[Coronadoman]

Free at last, free at last, thank god almighty, we're free at last....

...ok, not 'til September 17, apparently, and lots can happen twixt now and then, right?

no champagne, yet...what was the movie where the funeral goer stuck a hatpin into the deceased JUST TO MAKE SURE he was dead? Same thing...Trust, but verify...

D.

[Boadicea]

I think that Gonzales and Rove leaving virtually at the same time signals that the caging story is finally going to break. There are official emails out there, between Rove, Gonzales and others, that clearly outline attempts to suppress the African American vote through caging.

[Nano]

You may be onto something ... that is a common link ... a unified field theory, as it were

[Johnsnottoodistracted]

He has many more important obligations.
He is the only one who knows all the loop holes that need to be used as safety nets for the countless criminal acts and actors.
Don't forget he has been a paid employee of bushcon for over 15 years.
He has legalized what ever was necessary for the build up to the build up of the build up.
He has the road map to the bank vault.
Yes,he needs to take care of allot of other business for allot of other cohorts.This ag stuff was taking up too much time.
And they kept bothering him about the truth.

[HowietheScreamer]

As much as I would LOVE to see that come to pass, to finally get that skeleton out of the closet. I don't think it will. If the MSM hasn't caught on by NOW, and they haven't, there's NO hope of them doing so at all. They are brain dead, and PAID to be that way.

More "Reality TV" for the masses, another missing teenager case please... anything to distract Mr. and Mrs. Sixpack from the fact the country is going down the shitter.

[castlerider]

The MSM is the least of all you could count on to dig that up, and give us some truth.
Screw those idiots- forget those screwballs. Bob Scheiffer did us all a big favor when he made like the biggest puppet of all, shaking his head saying Howard Dean's really done it now, with that scream.
That was SO not an issue. The MSM literally made that one, right before our eyes. Thanks, Bob, you sold-out jerk!
There have been several extremely grave & important stories broken by the internet that have left the MSM reeling, wondering what happened, while people have flocked in bigger numbers to the web to get their news. many of these stories, like this one, have thousands with baited breath waiting for the oxygen of truth and recognition that will let it light up and burn. Burn away the dead body smell of corruption and graft.
This story about the caging, broken I believe by Greg Palast on DemocracyNow.org is an extremely important and significant set of facts that have not seen their justified light of day yet, and really needs to.
I've been wondering myself, what the hell is wrong with people, why havent they brought this up for proper discussion, what the hell is holding it down???
Another significant extremely important story broken by Amy on Democracynow was about the "Vulture loans" bought by ruthless investors of the payoff by mainstrem countries of third world country's laons, then taking those loans and charging these same countries even higher, vicious costs... One of these investors is a main contributor of George Bush's campaign!! Oh but you haven't heard about that one, have you?

[maxhap2]

i hear that frustration, i feel the same way, but looking down your nose at mr and mrs Sixpak is a big part of the problem because it just dilutes the mass with endless bickering. Finally being able to break through the concrete brain of the Sixpaks is going to be a key neccessity to breaking the whole spell. What good is preaching to the choir?
I wish someone would put 'Network' on the big screen again or make a re-make...hard to imagine doing any better. Politics is too much of a quagmire...peple in entertainment have an enormous responsibility now to dis-pel ignorance...they certainly have everyone's attention...









n

[pelosiforpresident]

Yes, but will anyone ever get to see the e-mails?

[Slimsmom]

I agree. Another possibility is that the railroading of former Alabama governor Don Siegelman into prison by "loyal Bushies" and Republican flunkies is about to become major news, too. This case is a superlative example of why the politicization of the Justice Department is so bad. It will be the one case among many that helps the average American understand the ramifications of cronyism on an agency that must be non-partisan to dispense equal justice.

[zendem1]

Fredo knew too much. It was time for him to slink off, as part of a deal cut by Arlen"one Gun" Specter. Bush then hands the country Chertoff as if to say,"Up yours, Democrats!Happy now?"

[cato12345678]

There is absolutely no reason why Chernoff should be confirmed if he is nominated - the man is both incompetent and evil. He has no regard for the rights of American citizens or for what we used to all understand as justice.
Sooner or later the democrats are going to have to say no to Bush or they become effectively co:conspirators against our rights and liberties .

[WorkingClass]

The Democrats are already there.

[opines]

Just in:

Giuliani, Lieberman, Perle, Wolfowitz, Kristol, Judith Miller support Chertoff for AG. You think the Dems would block a nomination supported by such luminaries?

[FOXYLADY]

CHERNOFF...EVIL IS RIGHT....HIS FACE FRIGHTENS ME AND I'VE SEEN PLENTY IN 78 YEARS OF LIVING. BUSH'S ALLYS EITHER HAVE CHUBBY CHEEKS OR EVIL SNEERING FACES...JUST CHECK OUT CHENEY....AND HE ALSO HAS THE "CHEEKS" TO GO WITH THE SNEERS

[marlan]

Chicken alfredo, I might add.

[NoContest]

AlFredo, AlBerto, AlFrisco, ElRoho. (cock-a-roach). He's gone, and it is a scathing rebuke against us that he left on his own timetable and not one determined by his superiors.

That was the great humility of Saddam, he was at the mercy of others, and they lowered the boom. AlFredo scurrys to the next opportunity.

[wldnswmmr]

There could definitely be something to the Fredo theory, Nora. I think Bush is on record as calling Antonin Scalia "Antonio," which is pretty funny in its own way. Or "Fredo" could simply be a humiliating insult of a nickname, in honor of Alberto's craven and malleable approach to his work for GWB.

[jackything]

I don't think The Shrub is clever enough to draw that comparison, at least not by himself. I go with the usual mangling of language.

[PaulGaskin]

I think it might be a pseudo-Spanish thing that a dumb gringo like Bush would do to add "o" to the end of anything.

[LeftRight]

Does all of this remind anyone else of "I know what you did last summer"? I keep thinking, you know they did something wrong fro 6 years, and now everybody just keeps disappearing. Resigning, rather than being killed, but still...

[research]

Yes, I worry that, having done all the damage they could as part of the Bush white house, they are simply clearing their schedules to work on stealing the election.

[jackything]

I can guarantee you that Karl Rove is just locating an undisclosed rock to hide under so he can pull his ratfucking, vote-tampering, swiftboating, business-as-usual repukelican campaign tactics. He'll need someone to go for coffee and donuts-who better than Gonzo?

[wmholt]

Isn't the only punishment for violating the Hatch act removal from office? I'm sure that figures somewhere in here, although it is like jailing Al Capone for tax evasion. Sure, it's a crime, but nothing like the unspeakable atrocities he was really guilty of.

[lawyeredup]

Hah! September surprise; Bush & Cheney Resigned and decided to walk back to TX.

[LarryDavid]

but is it possible that Gonzales' legacy will be worse than, say, Clinton's?

[accountability]

wow, that didn't take long.

We know Clinton is the one really at fault.
He was the real AG only nobody knew it.

getoutaheah.

[GoCheneyYourself]

Not if you're a Bush toady and think that lying about a blow job is worse than firing U.S. Attorneys for not helping to steal an election, creating false legal rationales for torture, spying on American citizens, and trying to get the previous AG to sign off on an illegal spy program while he's under sedation, etc.

[Singha]

Before bush I didn't care for Clinton. But, day after day of bushit, Clinton's legacy is looking better and better. For example: Clinton was the only President,in years, to balance the budget and have a surplus. And we all know what bush did to that.

[Janelynne]

This will go down in history as the worst administration ever. Clinton was a solid President, so good, his legacy had to get assassinated. Whereas, Bush will be acquiring Mad Libs for his library. The only legacy of the Bush administration is lessons learned.

[Adjuster]

Ha Ha, Larry you crack me up with that straightfaced, deer-in the-headlights delivery. Ask Cheryl, she'll set you straight:
Clinton - Hero
Gonzo - Zero
But at least you still have your sense of humor.

[DRaymond]

As to why all of this is happening now the reason is quite simple. As came out during the Rove resignation Bush made a request that everybody not wanting to stay all the way through the end resign this month. For Karl it was the ability to work behind the scenes for the 2008 presidential candidates. For Fredo it was simply not knowing what another year of congressional lambasting would still bring.

As for the rest of the timing Bush wants to replace them all with recess appointments because he does not want to give the Democrats a chance to use confirmation hearings as a route, for example, to demand all those records the administration has been stonewalling over.

[pascaljim]

Did Ms. Rice also receive this invitation to bail... hope so....

Pascal Jim

[Billiam]

Take this for what it's worth, but there is a lot of buzz right now on the Internet about another impending 9-11 type event being planned by a Cheney-led faction of the US government in order to put in place the final piece of the puzzle - full dictatorship, martial law and the take over of the country. There's also claims of evidence being bandied about concerning put options that have been placed betting that the stock market will crash by Sept. 21.

[delphi]

I agree with you. All the talk about waiting till September.
The stock market roller-coaster.
All the players slinking off.
Why would they have to quit before Labor Day.

Big plant afoot. They are not going anywhere.
Just a 'false-flag" PR show.

Cheney's in the bunker somewhere and the plan is going to go off because everyone's "on vacation".

[anotherpatriot]

And the resignations of Rove and Gonzo is providing a convenient distraction.

Where's the hell is Cheney? Anyone ever notice how he seems to just fade from the scene, only to reappear every once and a while (make an appearance) and then quietly fades away again to places unknown.

I think the person we need to keep a VERY close eye on is Cheney (but we're not), so we he is free to do his Darth Cheney deeds while we're all looking in the opposite direction.

[anotherpatriot]

Also, is there any unusual trading activity going on in the stockmarket? As I recall, it seems that just prior to 9/11 there was a flurry of activity going with regard to the airline industry. If there is, it could be an indication that something major is, in fact, about to occur.