Gonzales should resign
However, politics aside, the attorney general ought to have the decency to resign.
Not only is Gonzales virtually powerless (Congress is unlikely to support any new Justice Department initiatives as long as he is in charge), but he has conducted himself shamefully during the entire investigation into his office. Competent Justice Department attorneys, including his former chief of staff, Utahn D. Kyle Sampson, were forced to resign so that Gonzales could avoid taking responsibility. Meanwhile, Gonzales himself has admitted making incomplete statements to the public.
Frankly, it's unseemly for any leader to push loyal subordinates in front of the firing squad in order to save his own hide. Gonzales needs to finally own up to his own actions.
Those actions likely go beyond the firing of eight U.S. attorneys. They involve allegations he used a political litmus test in the hiring of career employees and in the pursuit of certain cases ahead of others. Allegations include those that he pursued vote fraud cases selectively in states where the outcome could benefit Republicans. Americans, who are taught from their earliest school days that justice is blind, deserve better from the nation's top prosecutor.
In addition, the rumblings that Democrats might step up their investigation with new subpoenas to key figures such as Karl Rove may be fading, as well. The majority party clearly doesn't have enough support to push its case.
That doesn't mean Gonzales is vindicated, however. Nor does it mean he can spend the next 18 months in office doing anything of significance for the American public.
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