Vote Of No Confidence

They do it in parliamentary systems, so why not here?

Providing it's Constitutional...and I have yet to hear any arguments that it's not...I think the Senate should hold a vote of no confidence on Gonzales.

I'm very sure it'll succeed and force Gonzales to resign.

Rove's Last Stand?

Newly revealed White House e-mails show President Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, and then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales were involved in discussions of a shakeup of U.S. attorneys before Gonzales became attorney general.

Well this certainly doesn't paint a pretty picture for Gonzales, but it's interesting to see Karl Rove's name implicated in this. Although, he's probably implicated in every White House scandal we'll see from this administration.

What's also interesting is WHEN all this occurred...January 9, 2005, when President Bush was riding high after his reelection, the Republicans had what they thought was a tight hold on both houses of Congress, and Karl Rove was the Reigning Emperor of American Politics. Rove discussed the firing of all 93 federal prosecutors at the time, which after Bush's reelection would've only created a whimper of protest. (See that's the time to do it, not the week after your party looses Congress.)

More on Rove;

The Justice Department later admitted that one of the eight -- H.E. "Bud" Cummins, the U.S. attorney in Little Rock, Arkansas -- was fired to make room for a former Rove aide returning from military service.

Meanwhile Rove is defending the firings, claiming the Democrats are "playing politics." You know, after seeing Dick Cheney defend the war his company is making billions in, you'd think this administration would be smarter than to defend themselves with a guy who's best buddy took over the job of one of the randomly fired prosecutors.

They just never learned do they? It's like sending a mosquito to defend malaria.

Now the question on everyone's mind...is this Rove's last stand? Has the Godfather of the Republican Party met his Waterloo? I have the popcorn popping in the microwave.

Third Senator Wants Gonzales Gone

Senator Mark Pryor (D-Arkansas) called for Gonzales' resignation or firing today;

"When an attorney general lies to a United States senator, I think it is time for that attorney general to go. He did not only lie to me as a person, but when he lied to me, he lied to the Senate and to the people I represent."

Pryor joins Senators Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and John Sununu (R-New Hampshire) in calling for Gonzales to leave his post.

In other Pryor news today; he sided with the Republicans on the Iraq bill, along with Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska) and Joe Lieberman (I don't even know anymore-Connecticut)

Prosecutor Firings: My Political Mind At Work

I believe the firings of the seven prosecutors were truly a political move. At least some of them seem to have obvious political rationales in my mind. Here are my opinions on what might have happened here;

Bud Cummings- Eastern District of Arkansas
-Fired and replaced by Tim Griffin, 37, a close friend of Karl Rove
MY OPINION: Republicans hold NO statewide elected office in Arkansas. The only Republican of note in the whole state at the moment is Rep. John Boozman of Fort Smith. Boozman is not considered too strong statewide. My belief is that the White House is trying to build the Republican bench in Arkansas (a state Bush won twice,) and nothing does that better than a 37 year old Republican who could be the next Governor, Senator or could challenge the liberal Vic Snyder for his Little Rock congressional seat. Federal Prosecutors do sometimes run and get elected to public office (see: Rudy Giuliani)

Carol Lam- Southern District of California
-Fired on December 7th because of "performance issues"
IN MY OPINION: Lam indicted and prosecuted former Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham last year in a corruption case that nearly cost the Republicans his House seat and assisted heavily in the Republican loss of Congress. The administration also pointed to Lam's lack of immigration prosecutions. My belief is they needed that issue to play well in the West in 2006 and she wasn't gving the administration the news story it needed.

David Iglesias- District of New Mexico
-Fired on December 7th, received phone calls from Senator Pete Domenici (R-New Mexico) and Rep. Heather Wilson (R-New Mexico) in the weeks before the 2006 election inquiring about a corruption case against a Democratic state senator, to which Iglesias responded the indictment would not come down until after the election, a response that upset Domenici and Wilson.
IN MY OPINION: This is pretty clear cut. Heather Wilson was in a tight tight race with Patricia Madrid for her Albuquerque House seat. Although she narrowly won (by about 850 votes,) at the time the calls were made, she was trailing Madrid. An indictment against a prominent Democrat could give her the ammo she needed to decisively beat Madrid...the state's Attorney General.

John McKay- Western District of Washington
-Fired on December 7th despite a very positive job evaluation
IN MY OPINION: Washington Republicans are still seething over the razor-thing victory of Democratic Governor Christine Gregoire in 2004. She defeated her Republican opponent, Dino Rossi, by 123 votes asfter three recounts, the first of which had Rossi ahead by a few hundred. The GOP desperately needed a huge victory in Washington State, as it had become increasingly Democratic despite being a Swing State for over 40 years. McKay's refusal to set up a federal grand jury to investigate potential voter fraud in the Seattle area (which pulled in enough votes to push Gregoire over the top,) probably sent him to the block to appease the state's fledgling Republican Party.

Paul Charlton- District of Arizona
-Fired on December 7th
IN MY OPINION: Charlton was in the process of investigating and possibly indicting current and/or former Republican congressman or men. (My guess would be J.D. Hayworth.) If it was Hayworth, then I can see why they fired Charlton as Hayworth lost his seat to Democrat Harry Mitchell in November, with possible pending corruption charges a reason for his defeat. The angry White House may have blamed Charlton for this and forced him out. This may have been what pushed him off the cliff and he was in hot water with the Justice Department and the White House already because of his staunch anti-capital punishment stance.

These are just my opinions. They may sound like conspiracy theories, but with this administration, I'm not sure there is a such thing anymore.

Yet Another Screw Up

Doesn't it feel like this administration is always screwing up lately. I've already heard them say twice today they screwed something up. Let's compile a list now; The Best of Bush's Screw Ups

1.) "Bin Laden Determined To Attack The United States"- August, 2001
2.) "Bin Laden Dead or Alive"- September 2001-Present
3.) Saddam's Yellow Cake Purchase From Niger- January 2003
4.) "We'll Be Greeted As Liberators"- March, 2003
5.) "Mission: Accomplished"- May 2003
6.) "Insurgency Is In It's Last Throes"- Summer 2004
5.) Hurricane Katrina- August 2005
6.) Post-War Iraq- April 2003-Present
7.) Guantanamo Bay- January 2002-Present
8.) Illegal Unwarranted Wiretapping- October 2001-Present
9.) Prosecutor Firing Scandal- March 2007-

Did I miss any?

I love how Gonzales admits he's a horrible AG by saying he doesn't know what goes on in the office...so either the AG is incompetent and a criminal...great.

It's a sad day when our government's only defense is "I had no idea what was going on."