Bush Rebuffs GOP Pressure For Gonzales to Step Down

[TacticalPeek]

Source: Washington Post

Bush Rebuffs GOP Pressure For Gonzales to Step Down
After Testimony, Attorney General Loses Lawmakers' Support

By Peter Baker and Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, April 21, 2007; A03

President Bush yesterday stood by his embattled friend, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, defying the broad bipartisan consensus emerging in Washington after this week's Senate hearing that Gonzales has so badly damaged his own credibility that he should resign.

Bush expressed "full confidence" in Gonzales through a spokeswoman and praised his "fantastic" service, in hopes of quashing speculation that the attorney general would be pushed out. But a wide array of Republicans described Gonzales with phrases such as "dead man walking," and even some White House aides privately voiced hope that he will step down on his own.

The continuing erosion of Republican support suggested that Gonzales lost ground during a day of often-hostile questioning by the Senate Judiciary Committee, rather than repairing the damage caused by the dismissal of eight U.S. attorneys. Nearly every committee Republican appeared skeptical of Gonzales's handling of the firings and their aftermath. Telephone calls yesterday to dozens of GOP lawmakers, lobbyists, and current and former Bush administration officials found almost no support for the attorney general.

"Congressional confidence in his ability has eroded severely," said Rep. Adam H. Putnam (Fla.), the third-ranking House Republican leader, who yesterday became the latest to call for Gonzales's resignation. "There is widespread concern among my colleagues about the leadership shown by the attorney general. . . . This has now reached the point where it's larger than any one man."

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/20/AR2007042002020_pf.html

---

This is good for Republicans.

:evilgrin:

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. jr is utterly delusional. We'll be lucky if he doesn't end it all by

pushing the button before this motherfucker is over.

[Seabiscuit]

2. Bubble Boy won't even listen to Republicans, much less the American people. n/t

[The_Casual_Observer]

3. Ever since 9/11 he's been out there operating without any restraint

It will take 50 years to undo the damage caused by that psychotic asshole.

[grannylib]

4. If we're lucky...he's done a hell of a lot of damage. I get physically ill thinking

about that sorry-assed, unqualified, unelected, evil imbecile sitting in the White House, calling himself 'president.'
We'll be paying the price for decades at least.

[aquart]

7. I like that he insists on dragging them over the cliff with him.

Party loyalty? Wake up, idiots. He ain't got none.

[flaminbats]

5. Bush is opening the door for impeachment..

something tells me fewer Republicans will be willing to stick their necks out for Bush next time he makes a veto threat.

[truthisfreedom]

6. It will have to be dual, simultaneous impeachment, to usher Nancy into the Presidency.

They can't have time to bring in another veep. It has to happen on the same day, at the same time.

on edit: With conviction, of course. I keep forgetting impeachment is just the first step. Sigh.

[aquart]

8. It's good to have dreams.

Although I am beginning to imagine a time when the remnants of the Republican Party will join us in removing this insect infestation.

[FloridaJudy]

9. Hecuva job, Gonzo!

n/t

[radfringe]

10. "fantastic" service

Bush expressed "full confidence" in Gonzales through a spokeswoman and praised his "fantastic" service, in hopes of quashing speculation that the attorney general would be pushed out.

"fantastic" service = Gonzo gone

[LiberalFighter]

21. Someone should force Dana Perino to watch Gonzales's testimony for 24 hours

HEY!!! Maybe, do the same with the other Republicans in Congress. After they watch the first 24 hours straight threathen them with a full week if they don't vote to remove him from office.

[LiberalFighter]

11. Bush Rebuffs GOP Pressure For Gonzales to Step Down

Source: Washington Post

Bush expressed "full confidence" in Gonzales through a spokeswoman and praised his "fantastic" service, in hopes of quashing speculation that the attorney general would be pushed out. But a wide array of Republicans described Gonzales with phrases such as "dead man walking," and even some White House aides privately voiced hope that he will step down on his own.

/snip/

Bush traditionally has bristled at pressure to dismiss advisers under fire, particularly those close to him, such as Gonzales, a longtime confidant from Texas. When he has eased out top officials, he has usually dictated the timing so as not to appear to be caving in to critics. Giving in, he has reasoned, would only embolden his foes to seek more scalps.

But in this case, according to Republican strategists, Bush faces the choice of leaving in place a law enforcement chief who has undermined his effectiveness in his department and on Capitol Hill, or reversing gears in the coming days and weeks if the political situation continues to deteriorate.

"Everybody at the White House . . . all think he needs to go, but the president doesn't," said a Republican who consulted the Bush team yesterday. Another White House ally said Bush and Gonzales are ignoring reality: "They're the only two people on the planet Earth who don't see it." A third Republican intimately familiar with sentiment inside the White House said the hope is that Gonzales will leave on his own. "At some point, he'll figure out that it's not a sustainable situation," the Republican said.

Read more: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/20/AR2007042002020.html?hpid=moreheadlines

---

We want you to stay Gonzales. You help make our case.

[annabanana]

12. We will find out who is most stupid. . Gonzo or Bozo

Whichever one figures out that Gonzo has to go-go is marginally smarter than the other..

[LiberalFighter]

15. I hope they have enough on each other that they don't trust each other.

[rocktivity]

13. Candidate for this month's "You Call This NEWS?" award

He does the same thing over and over again and expects a different result. He calls it loyalty, the rest of us calls it insanity.

:headbang:
rocknation

[ChairmanAgnostic]

14. fantastic=crazy, farfetched, foolish, wacky, irrational, erratic, comical and

absurd.

Hell yes. The WHite House hits it out of the park!

[whistle]

16. What a defiant arrogant little shit! Shrub* really needs a good hard "bitch-slapping"

...from the Senate. No more funding of the war, no more troops to go over to Bush's war to shed blood and die, no more power for this little turd of a douchbag!:wtf:

[LiberalFighter]

20. What would be hilarious...

He would be greeting everyone in line that voted for him in 2000 and 2004.
Not knowing whether they still think he is a god or a total idiot.
And they have the option of shaking his hand/hugging him or bitch slapping him.
Wouldn't it be fun watching him cower with fear after just a few hundred?

[disndat]

17. Let Tortuzales stay

The conservative Republicans are more anxious that Gonzo resign or get booted out than the Democrats, for obvious reasons. He is now the national icon of malevolence and incompetence that characterize the Bushco regime.

[bemildred]

18. He can't really let Gonzo go.

He won't get another loyal partisan stooge like him into the office, and with a real AG in office, there will be nobody to fend off the investigations, and there are a LOT of investigations.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

19. His continued presence IS a major problem, unfortunately,

The problem is it is a collective problem.

it is much worse for the Administration, being seen as manipulative, vindictive, political animals more concerned with winning a political battle - at all costs - rather than allowing pros in various governmental agencies do their jobs.

It is much worse for the DOJ in every future bit of litigation. The first question to be posed in civil, governmental and criminal litigation will now be, show us how this case came to be and which pols in DC ordered you to bring it.
Every jury will get hints from the defense attorneys suggesting that very thing.

And until Gonzo reaches his personal bedtime, our nation continues to be a risk because the chief of the entire DOJ is an idiot, incompetant, and political, rather than a professional manager.

If you don't think that matters, then you are mistaken. I have worked (both personally and as a service provider) for many corporations. It matters not the size of the organization. WHen you deal with a well run place, it is actually a joy to do the job. WHen petty idiots are in control, it becomes a hell for everyone, especially those who want to and can to a good job, but are precluded by management's own inane performance and behavior.

[GCP]

22. GOOD

The more he carries on like this, the worse it's going to be in the next election for the pukes. Or they may even get their own impeachment articles fired up - either way we win.