Requiem for a Bottom Feeder

Since Fredo gave such a short speech notifying the country of his resignation and neither took questions from reporters nor claimed he needed to spend more time with his family, it has been noted in many reports that there was no reason given for his departure or for the timing of his leaving.

Maru cleverly suggests that he simply can't recall.

David Brooks of the NY Times gave a less witty, but logical suggestion tonight on the PBS news. He said it was a matter of waiting until the calls for him to leave had died down so they could pretend it was his decision to go.

NPR reported that Mr. Brooks also lamented that under Gonzo's leadership, the Department of Justice, which should be able to draw on its prestige to recruit people for work there, had been "notably unsuccessful" at getting top attorneys. I'd say they'd been notably unconcerned about getting top attorneys. After all, they hired 150 graduates of Regent University. Come to think of it, it seems less like unconcern than a full out drive to hire attorneys for reasons other than their brains.

NPR also reported that two weeks ago Gonzo, talking to a group of young attorneys about the pride of working in the public service, answered the question of how they were to pay off big school loans by saying they didn't need to stay in public service; they could just put in two years and then go to work in the private sector and earn lots of money. In fact, he said, that's just what he was going to do.

And David Iglesias said that when Gonzo talked to a group of U.S. attorneys, he told them they worked for George Bush. Unfortunately, Iglesias was under the impression that they worked for the people of the United States, which I guess is essentially why he got canned.

Steve Benen sums up Gonzo's record.

On warrantless-searches, the Military Commissions Act, policy on detainees at Guantanamo Bay, and the Geneva Conventions, Gonzales was a disaster. On actual law enforcement, crime rates went up under Gonzales’ watch. On managing the Justice Department, he filled his staff with Pat Robertson acolytes, feigned ignorance while structural disasters unfolded, and showed shocking tolerance for corruption and politicization of a department that, for the benefit of the nation and the rule of law, needed to maintain independence.