First, credit where credit is due: way to go Senator Coleman for coming to the table and admitting that Attorney General Gonzales has to go. Whether or not this is part of your continued campaign to amass a list of things that you can point to in the coming year to show your fleeting “moderateness,”
From the Strib:
“I don’t believe that Gonzales has the type of leadership that the department needs,” Coleman said, calling into question Gonzales’ credibility and his ability to focus on his job.
Yes, back-slaps all around for Coleman’s brave non-partisan stance! Well, that is, unless you read the AP version of the story which, as usual, picks up on a few important sticking points that the Strib leaves out:
Coleman called Heffelfinger a “first-class prosecutor” and said
he found it disturbing that the Justice Department had identified him for possible dismissal .
Whoa, “disturbed” is a pretty strong word to use, especially when talking about a “first-class prosecutor.” Sounds like maybe there’s some foul-play going on that we should look into. Or, at the very least, it would make sense to establish why you’re going to give someone as high-up as a US AG the boot, right? Well, maybe not:
However,
Coleman declined to join Klobuchar’s call for an investigation, saying, “I don’t think it accomplishes anything.”
Ooookay… let’s boot Gonzales and move on… that should solve everything. Now why would someone feel strongly enough about a leader’s infractions that he wants them out but doesn’t want to investigate into those infractions!? Maybe I’m going out on a limb here but maybe it has to do with the fact that Karl Rove hand-picked Coleman to run for the Senate in ‘02 and those nasty e-mails that might come out in an investigation.
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Norm has been building up to it in his own Normalicious way. On 4/25/07 he said:
“I think there’s a huge credibility issue at the Justice Department,” said Sen. Norm Coleman (Minn.). “I continue, even after his testimony, to have grave doubts.”
On 4/19/07 he said:
“The attorney general has serious problems…”
On 3/30/07 he said:
“I have deep concerns about the handling of the situation”
On 3/20/07 he said:
“I think there are issues of confidence that have to be addressed.”
Norm-speak never has anything substantial to it. It sounds meaningful until you examine it in relation to everything else he’s said. Even his actual statement wasn’t all that direct. Technically, he didn’t ask Gonzales to resign … he went at it indirectly:
“I would hope that the attorney general understands that the department is suffering right now, and he does the right thing, and that is allows the president to provide new leadership.”
However, this is as clear as it gets in Norm-speak.
The Big E
mnblue.com is home to the Norm Coleman Weasel Meter
Is he really going out on a limb here? Urging the dismissal of Gonzales is starting to look like one of those safe issues.
If pressed, I’m sure Senator Coleman would also take a courageous stance in favor of motherhood, but against man-eating sharks.
Maybe we can combine the Gonzales investigation with a thorough airing out of “Swansongate” and put two inept hacks out to pasture in the type of shamed atmosphere that will please everyone.