“Bush’s brain” and Attorney General Both Decide to Call It Quits: What Gives?

August 31, 2007

Well, here I am back for another chapter in the Bush Administration’s saga of controversy. Spaced nearly exactly two weeks apart, both, the man known as Bush’s brain, Bush top adviser, Karl Rove and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales have announced their resignations following Rove’s and Gonzales’ recently questioned actions.

Rove had allegedly leaked the identity of the wife of a CIA agent, (he claims to have said her name off the record); and Gonzales, of course, has become the posterboy of “duh” with his “I don’t recall remembering” responses to Congressional probes regarding his involvement in both the firing of eight U.S, attorneys and a seemingly scant alibi concerning the abuse of power when attempting to get a then bedridden John Ashcroft to authorize a counterintelligence and surveillance program. While those on both sides of the fence speculate as to the reasons for the uncanny timing of both men’s resignations, Rove and President Bush have weighed in on the issue with some assessments:

Bush on Gonzales (CNN): — President Bush on Monday said he reluctantly accepted the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, whose “good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons.

“Bush on Rove (CNN): — “We’ve been friends for a long time, and we’re still going to be friends. I would call Karl Rove a dear friend. We’ve known each other as youngsters, interested in serving our state. We worked together so we could be in a position to serve this country. And so I thank my friend. I’ll be on the road behind you here in a little bit.”

Rove on Rove (FOX News Sunday): — “Well, I’ve been talking to the president about this for over a year. And it always seemed that we — whenever we’d talk about when was the right time to leave, there would always be something else. You know, there’d be another battle. And he really needs — you know, there’s — this is the right time to go. There are people that have been brought into place who can take up some of my responsibilities and other people who could be recruited to take on them. And now’s the time to go.”

Rove on the firings of the eight Attorneys (FOX News Sunday): — “Because of the Constitution of the United States. We have a constitutional separation of powers. Imagine the outcry if the executive branch said, “We have the ability to call aides to members of Congress up before us to testify publicly as to what they’ve told their boss, their senator or congressman or congresswoman for whom they work.” Imagine the outcry if either the executive or the legislative said, “We have the ability to call Supreme Court clerks out for public testimony about what they’re advising the Supreme Court justice when they’re writing an opinion.” You know, the counsel’s office made a generous offer to the Senate. They said, “If you want to find out what Harriet Miers and Karl Rove said and did, we’d be happy to provide them for a conversation with you which would protect the president’s prerogative and yet give you the information [you require].”

In light of these remarks, Gonzales has yet to reveal why he has decided to leave his post. I have stated in my earlier blog that I did not trust his Congressional testimony in July. Furthermore, the kind of audacious secrecy and dodging in the above statement by Rove, in my mind, only confirms my earlier suspicions.

In a similar vein, Gonzales claimed to not recall his actions 74 times under oath back in April regarding the firings in question, and Rove still refuses to testify claiming privileges of separation of powers, while the President acts as if “They’re talkin’ junk about my friends.” Keep in mind that I do not know the President as a man. I do believe he cares for his friend, as a man. However, I fear his friendship with “Al” has clouded his prudence in his judgment of Gonzales as a government official.

Bush has similarly seemed to hire Rove, as he seems to have with Gonzales, as an old buddy from his governorship in Texas. Is this okay? Also, do Rove’s and Gonzales’ unwillingness to disclose information prove they are corrupt?

So now I’d like to poll you, the reader:

Technorati Tags: Karl Rove, Alberto Gonzales, resignation, resign, President Bush

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