Gonzales’s Testimony Satisfied at Least One Person, His Boss

There are times when Bush's gall simply leaves one speechless. He has an ability to look at failure and declare success which suggests that he is either myopic or that he actually doesn't care what the rest if the world thinks, relying on the fact that he's "the decider" and he's deciding that reality is what he says it is.

What other possible explanation could there be for him stating that Alberto Gonzales appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee, “increased my confidence in his ability to do the job.”

How could anyone's confidence in the Attorney General be increased by a performance that other Republicans described as "disastrous" according to National Review Online. Even Charlie Black, a strategist close to the White House said:

“It sounds like he walked into a firing squad without a gun,” said Charlie Black, a strategist close to the White House, after discussing the testimony with several other Republicans. Of the Republican senators, Mr. Black said, “They just think this was amateur hour, and they should not be expected to defend it.”

That wasn't how the myopic resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue saw things. He thought, “The attorney general went up and gave a very candid assessment, and answered every question he could possibly answer, honestly answer.”

What planet is Bush living on that he can make that statement? The Attorney General's memory loss was astonishing, so much so that even Republican members of the panel found his inability to remember a meeting that he attended a mere five months ago - where it is said he decided to fire eight US Attorney's - simply unbelievable. They balked at the logic that, although he claims to have no memory whatsoever of the meeting, he claims he can remember making the decision to fire the Attorney's, he just can't remember attending the meeting where the decision is thought to have taken place, though he insists he remembers making the decision. However, even though he has no memory of most of this, he is sure that no wrongdoing took place.

It was a performance of quite staggering ineptitude. His performance was, as Specter politely put it, "significantly if not totally at variance with the facts."

This is not what Bush saw. I did say at the time that I thought this was probably how he would try to play it.

But we shouldn't be surprised. This is typical of Bush. We've seen all this before with Rumsfeld. People call for the resignation of a member of his government and the resignation call alone is almost certain to signal that Bush will fight to keep them. Because, according to his own uniquely childish and immature logic, Bush believes that he must show that he is "the Decider" and he will prove this by refusing to be forced to make a decision simply because other people are calling for him to do so. And he will stick to this insane logic even if it is hurting his government as he does so.

The first sign that he might employ this tactic came when he sent forth Dana Perino to state, "He is our No. 1 crime fighter. He has done so much to help keep this country safe from terrorists."

The logic Bush appears to be clinging to here is that, as the Democrats can't prove that illegality occurred, then Gonzales has committed no wrong. I can see where he's coming from. However, this ignores the fact that the man we are talking about is the Attorney General. The No. 1 enforcer of the law in the land. Imagine what any jury would make of any suspect who took to the witness stand and said, "I don't recall" 70 times. Would a jury find such a suspect credible if he behaved in this way? Especially if he was doing so whilst discussing a meeting that took place a mere five months ago. A meeting at which the suspect remembers making an important decision, although he claims to have no memory of the meeting itself?

Such a person would be laughed out of court, possibly towards a jail cell. At the very least his astonishing memory loss would be thought grounds for charges of obstructing the course of justice.

And if that is how we would view such behaviour from any suspect in any case, we surely ask that similar standards are applied when the man in the witness box is the chief law officer of the land?

However, it is now being stated that Bush did not even see this performance that he is now so vigorously defending.

Ms. Perino said the president had been traveling but had received updates from aides and had seen some of it on television news reports.

His decision has been greeted with incredulity from other Republicans:

One senior Republican Congressional aide at work in Washington on Monday, who requested anonymity to speak candidly, called Mr. Bush’s statement that his confidence in Mr. Gonzales had grown after his testimony “curious”; another senior Republican aide asked, “Was he watching the same hearing as everyone else?”

Bush has obviously made a decision here based on the logic that if he gives any ground by firing Gonzales then Karl Rove will be the next person in the firing line.

However, Bush should never have had to even make that decision. The Attorney General should have offered his resignation.

“I will stay as long as I can be effective, and I can be effective,” Mr. Gonzales said in response to questions about his plans.

The President had stated that he was leaving it up to the Attorney General to regain the confidence of Congress, something that I'm assuming he appears to believe the Attorney General has done, although there is scant evidence of that on the ground.

“If the attorney general’s hearing performance increased the president’s confidence in his ability to lead the Justice Department, then he’s setting the bar fairly low,” said Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, in a statement on Monday.

This is typical Bush behaviour. It reminds one of his confidence in an appallingly inept Secretary Of Defence who he clung to despite a civil war erupting in Iraq which Rumsfeld claimed not to be able to even see.

Likewise, Bush now clings to Gonzales. I wonder if Republicans facing re-election in 2008 will find his faith in this man a blessing or a curse?

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Tags: Bush, Gonzales, fired US Attorney's