Time for AG the AG to be A-Gon(e), Along With The Boss

Oh, seriously. C'mon.

On November 2, 2004, I was one of those people that most of you probably hated. Chanting "FOUR MORE YEARS" until early the next morning, I figured our nation would see a comfortable stretch until 2008. Now, I just hope we can last another twenty-two months without another:

Katrina
Harriet Miers
Walter Reed.

Those are just the first three that come to mind. I won't get into today being the fourth anniversary of a war of whose duration our Secretary of Defense at the time predicted, "Three days, three weeks. I doubt it'll last three months." We all know the toll it's caused on our boys. I've been trying to see the bright side of it all, but this shows no signs of winnability. I don't doubt that many innocent Iraqi citizens probably want us there. The United States military has a long history of being a comfort to the oppressed. But...Well, I said I really wasn't gonna get into the war.

Anyway, if you don't know by now, our Justice Department headed by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has been accused of firing eight U.S. attorneys for "politically motivated" reasons. There's a trail of e-mails, and one of the big scapegoats is now the aforementioned Ms. Miers. The Pit Bull in Size 6 Shoes recently resigned as White House legal counsel, a job which she inherited from AG the AG when he became the AG. Harriet apparently suggested the removal of the Justice Department attorneys because they weren't in line with the Bush administration enough. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont are among those calling for A-Gon's resignation. They want him to testify before Congress. They want Karl Rove to testify (they also want world peace, the ability to fly, and three wishes from a genie). More dramatically, they want Gonzales to resign.

Honestly, I don't know enough to really say what A-Gon has done for our country at the helm of the Justice Department. Not to say he's necessarily done a horrible job, but if he did something that great, I'd probably know about it. He has nothing to gain by staying, people will be raging about this until January 2009. President Bush probably has a lot to lose by keeping him, although with an all-time low 30% approval rating, I'm not really sure what could be left. He did finally show some moxie by having Secretary of Defense Bob Gates roll some heads over Walter Reed, and I think he should do the same here.

Many people hate Mr. Bush. I say two things to this. First I actually think he's a good person. He's tremendously loyal to his friends. His, um, unique style of speaking leaves little room for him to be devious and disingenuine. I don't think he lied to us, knowingly, anyway. The flipside of his loyalty is what makes him a bad president - namely, keeping Cheney, keeping Rumsfeld for as long as he did, telling Brownie he did a heck of a job, and nominating Pitty for the Supreme Court. On a side note, the New York Times mentioned this weekend that "the president's remarks...seemed more like private words to a friend than public praise of an employee." Although a good George W. Bush does not a good Bush 43 make, CLEARLY the man has some redeemable traits.

Second, like it or not, he's our president. Whether you approve of the person holding office has nothing to do with whether you should support him. No one ever has to approve. That's why we vote. But if you choose to live here, that means you think this is the greatest land on the Earth. In order for that to continue, we as citizens must root for the nation's most visible and powerful leader to do a good job.

I really hope this is the last scandal. Frankly, I don't think anything short of finding bin Laden and getting out of Iraq before 2009 will vindicate the administration. Although I'll continue to hope and pray for the best, it is in our best interests to elect a new leader. Luckily, we have to.