Gonzales resigns

Attorney-General Alberto Gonzales resigned today:

Alberto Gonzales, the nation's first Hispanic attorney general, announced his resignation Monday, driven from office after a wrenching standoff with congressional critics over his honesty and competence.

Republicans and Democrats alike had demanded his departure over the botched handling of FBI terror investigations and the firings of U.S. attorneys, but President Bush had defiantly stood by his Texas friend for months until accepting his resignation last Friday.

Thus ends months of controversy over the sacking of several US Attorneys. As far as I'm concerned, that was a non-scandal: US Attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president and can be fired for any reason whatsoever. The furor over this was nothing more than Bush's congressional opponents tossing mud and hoping it stuck.

What was scandalous was Gonzalez's apparent mismanagement of DoJ affairs and ineptitude in dealing with Congress. He caused the Administration needless grief and helped divert focus from the White House's effort to build support for the "surge" strategy in Iraq. He should have resigned for these reasons months ago.

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