Again We Say It: Impeach Gonzalez

The more I think about the fact that Alberto Gonzales remains the U.S. Attorney General, the angrier I get. It's been almost two months since we, and others, began calling for Congress to impeach Gonzales. His pathetic performance in front of the Senate Juduiary Commitee a few weeks ago bizarrely appears to have given the president more confidence in him (although maybe it's not so bizarre under Jon Stewart's theory that his bumbling was exactly what Bush wanted him to do), and Gonzales seems to be trying to slip off of the radar screen and keep his job. However, one week ago Roll Call reported that Senate Democrats were considering holding a vote of no confidence on Gonzales, which would be non-binding but would at least put all GOP Senators on record as either being for this corrupt figurehead or against him.

That would be a start, but as this scandal goes ever deeper, including today's story from Murray Waas about Gonzales signing a highly confidential order that delegated to two of his top aides extraordinary authority over the hiring and firing of most non-civil-service employees of the Justice Department, it remains absolutely vital that Congressional Democrats keep the heat on Gonzales and the White House. They think that they can lie, and stonewall, and lie some more until these stories go away. And they think that they can ignore Congressional subpoenas.

So fine, here's a solution: Just impeach the Attorney General. There's nothing Bush can do to stop that, and it would be quick and it would work. AG the A.G. would be gone, and it would send a signal to the White House that they're playing a new game now. A game in which the other side has power, and is willing to use it to stand up for what is right. AG should have already either been fired or stepped down himself, and everyone knows that. But if Bush and AG are going to play this game, then the Democrats, with their newfound power, owe it to the country to play it too.