Gonzo Is Gone, Republican Senator Is "Sad"

Posted by Christy Hardin Smith at 9:03 AM on August 27, 2007.

This post, written by Christy Hardin Smith, originally appeared on FireDogLake

AG Alberto Gonzales will be giving a speech shortly at the Department of Justice. Shortly thereafter, scheduled for 11:30 am ET, President Bush will give a press conference in Waco, TX.

MSNBC talking heads Chris Matthews and Joe Scarborough say that local GOP folks have been calling for Gonzales’ removal and that this may have been an organized effort by incoming Rove replacement Ed Gillespie to “cut off the dead limbs on the GOP trees,” so to speak.

CNN’s been interviewing John Cornyn. YAWN. Here’s a summary: partisan…mean…partisan…witch hunt…sad day…blah blah blah. Shorter Cornyn: Accept no responsibility and blame someone else for GOP failures. (Can someone get this man a new script?)

_____________________________

10:31 am ET:

ALBERTO GONZALES live at podium:

Good morning. 13 years ago, I entered public service to make a positive difference in the lives of others. And during this time, I have travelled a remarkable journey from my home state of Texas to Washington, D.C., supported by the unwavering love and encouragement of my wife Rebecca, and our sons Jerret, Graham and Gabriel.

Yesterday, I met with President Bush and informed him of decision to conclude my government service as Attorney General of the United States effective as of 9/17/07. Let me say that it has been one of my greatest privileges to lead the DOJ. I have great admiration and respect for the men and women who work here. I have made a point as attorney general to personally meet as many of them as possible. And today I want to again thank them for their service to our nation.

It is through their continued work that our country and our communities remain safe. That the rights and civil liberties of our citizens remain protected. And the hopes and dreams of all our children are secured. I often remind our fellow citizens that we live in the greatest country in the world — and that I have lived the American dream. Even my worst days as attorney general have been better than my father’s best days. Public service is honorable and noble.

And I am profoundly grateful to President Bush for his friendship and for the many opportunities he has given me to serve the American people. Thank you and God bless America.

______________

That’s it. No questions taken.

More from Raw Story:

Reacting to the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, fellow Texan Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) said on Monday that the Gonzales departure was the result of congressional Democrats “hounding a good man.”

“I think it’s a sad day,” Cornyn, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a television interview with Fox News. “...it’s another reminder of why this congress’s rating in the public estimation is at one of its historic lows, where you have a hyper-partisan atmosphere and you have the new party in the majority accomplishing very little in the way of...new legislation.

“But they have succeeded in hounding a good man,” the senator continued, going on to characterize Gonzales as “somebody who the Hispanic community was rightly proud of as the highest level cabinet position served by a Hispanic in American history.”

As to the timing of the resignation, Senator Cornyn said “I think he was probably just worn down by the criticism. This sort of thing has a Chinese water torture effect of drip drip drip drip...I think the only two people that were going to determine whether [Gonzales] was going to continue in office were the president and Al Gonzales--and I guess Al Gonzales had had enough.”

Asked if the White House was prepared for the bruising confirmation process a new attorney general appointment could bring, Cornyn said that he “wanted to have a fair confirmation process, and looking forward that would be exactly the opposite of what we've seen since the new majority's been in power,” referring again to a “hyper- partisan atmosphere...to which everything else I've seen since I've been in Washington pales in comparison."

Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid, meanwhile, said in a statement that "Alberto Gonzales was never the right man for this job. He lacked independence, he lacked judgment, and he lacked the spine to say no to Karl Rove. This resignation is not the end of the story. Congress must get to the bottom of this mess and follow the facts where they lead, into the White House."

Tagged as: gonzales

Christy Hardin Smith is a former attorney, who earned her undergraduate degree at Smith College, in American Studies and Government, concentrating in American Foreign Policy. She then went on to graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania in the field of political science and international relations/security studies, before attending law school at the College of Law at West Virginia University, where she was Associate Editor of the Law Review.