Taking One For The Team: Gonzales' Resignation As A Diversionary Tactic

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The three stooges: The president won't fire Alberto Gonzales. He needs him to protect White House secrets, including the schemin

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Alberto Gonzales will resign today as Attorney General of the United
States. The long-awaited and yet unexpected move comes after months of
controversy and congressional scrutiny into his role in the US
Attorneys Firings and the now-infamous bedside chat with then Attorney
General John Ashcroft. Gonzales' resignation signals a new phase in the
Bush Administration and is perhaps the first sign from the embattled
and much-derided President that his term is coming to a
much-anticipated end.

The phrase "lame duck" has historically referred to Presidents whose
political relevancy is diminished by the impending end of their term -
typically second term Presidents who are either unwilling or (since
Roosevelt) unwilling to attempt a run for the office again. As the
American Constitutional system is largely based upon a system of checks
and balances, a lame-duck president signals a period of increased
Congressional power as the political pendulum swings towards the
legislative branch.

While Rove and the Bush Administration had hoped for a solid Republican
Majority to make this transitionary period easier, the 2006
Congressional Elections vastly increased the stakes for the White House
in the lame duck period. Faced with rising public sentiment against the
Administration and a newly empowered Congress that has pursued the
Administration's indiscretions with some fervor, Bush and his advisers
seek to forestall the lame-duck period as much as possible, throwing
conciliatory bones to the Congress in hopes of staving off more
aggressive investigation and a more significant reaction to the
previous six years of Presidential policy.

Gonzales' reputation as a lightning rod for the Administration makes
his resignation the most logical of these recent attempts to pacify the
Democratic Congress. Gonzales' strong ties with the scandals and
controversy that has plagued the Bush Administration make him an ideal
candidate for a diversionary feint as the White House battles through
its final year and a half in office.

The White House will continue to insist that Gonzales is faultless and
blameless in his handling of the US Attorney scandal and others,
trusting in the media impact of his dismissal to mollify the American
People and by extension the Congress. The White House no doubt hopes
that in jettisoning Gonzales it has also rid itself of the various
issues and investigations to which he is tied - thus freeing the
Administration to forestall further legislative action on the part of a
Congress increasingly under pressure to make its mark against a highly
unpopular and inevitably diminishing Presidency.