There’s a wide river of pundits who like to bleat about bipartisanship, as if the Democrats are being rude by defying the president every now and often. But one of the most shocking things about this administration is the extent that they corrupted non-partisan institutions and made them partisan. They have continuously put politics over policy at FEMA, CDC, NIH, NASA, EOC, and just about any other government organization you can think of. They have consistenly concluded that such concepts as the right to free speech, the right to organize, the right to a fair trail and due process of law, and other core concepts of our country are disposable privileges, to be thrown out whenever inconvenient, on their own authority.
To whatever degree Gonzales’s departure changes this, hooray. Many roads on many scandals lead through the Justice Department, one can only hope that this change will blow a cleansing wind through it.
Update: I thought this was a good take.
I gotta admit, that is a likely scenario. Blech.
Yes, Gonzo being gone is good. However, do we have any real reason to think that Bush will nominate anyone who ISN’T a cronie?
Yes, I’ve grown more than a little cynical.
Here’s how I see this playing out:
Bush nominates someone who will, more or less, take the role of puppet.
The Senate either confirms said puppet, or takes a stand (however minimal) against the nominee.
Bush then rails against the Senate for not confirming the nominee.
The Senate either caves, or actually shows some spine.
This goes back and forth, maybe switching nominees once in a while.
And, of course, this keeps the Senate distracted from doing, y’know, lawmaking.
It also puts them in a position where public opinion can drop even further.
Yes, truly, madly, deeply I am sick of all this. You shoulda seen me doing my little happy dance all day when we won both houses.
Alas…
Getting rid of a bad guy is always good. I don’t view this as the next inexorable step in the downfall of the Bush administration. I view as someone who helped wrecked the country will now not be doing that, and someone more competent and trustworthy will be in charge.
Personally, I don’t think you are going to see tons of change because of this. The fact is that the Bush administration pretty much castrated itself by getting bogged down in Iraq.
Thats the story.
Thats the story every day.
Thats the story every day until he leaves.
I was going to say that I think this might give the Dems the stones the should have had all along, but I think that, ultimately, they are going to continue to be too involved in holding hearings and investigations (which they do need to do) to pass any significant legislation. I think that they will remain terrified of taking any stand that might offend anyone, no matter how many people in the electorate support them.
What I’m really afraid of is that we ALL may be bogged down here and just lumbering through until the elections. I have no idea what will happen to congress if the dems don’t get SOMETHING done.