Bush & Gonzales: BFF/McCain and September/The Final Inside Joke of The Sopranos

At the Archaeological Museum in Sofia, Bulgaria, today, George W. Bush once again defended besieged Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Here's the exchange:

Q: Mr. President, I want to take you back to domestic issues again. You say the no-confidence vote [pending in the Senate today] has no bearing as to whether Alberto Gonzales remains as Attorney General. How can he continue to be effective? And it seems like you're not listening to Congress when it comes to Gonzales, but you are listening to Congress when it comes to Peter Pace.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Yes, it's an interesting comment about Congress, isn't it, that, on the one hand, they say that a good general shouldn't be reconfirmed, and on the other hand, they say that my Attorney General shouldn't stay. And I find it interesting. I guess it reflects the political atmosphere of Washington. And they can try to have their votes of no confidence, but it's not going to determine -- make the determination who serves in my government....

And as to how Gonzales -- first of all, this process has been drug out a long time, which says to me it's political. There's no wrongdoing. You know, he -- they haven't said, here's -- you've done something wrong, Attorney General Gonzales. And therefore, I ascribe this lengthy series of news stories and hearings as political. And I'll make the determination if I think he's effective, or not, not those who are using an opportunity to make a political statement on a meaningless resolution.

This is good news for Democrats and any American who cares about the Justice Department. How can keeping a political hack who has lost all credibility as attorney general be considered a positive thing? Thanks to the shenanigans of Gonzales and his underlings, the Justice Department has been paralyzed. That has made it tougher for conservative ideologues to work Justice as their own plaything. Sunday's Washington Post noted that the Bush administration has been lackadaisical of late in stuffing the courts with rightwingers, and this has peeved its conservative comrades outside the government. The Post reported:

A White House failure to move quickly to fill judicial openings around the country is fueling concern among conservative allies that President Bush may miss an opportunity to use his final months in office to continue putting his stamp on the federal judiciary....

But though some people single out Democrats for criticism, others worry that changes in the White House counsel's office and the congressional uproar over Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales have pushed the issue lower on the priority list. "I have been pressing them to submit names -- because every day that passes it becomes that much more difficult," said Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.), the committee's ranking Republican. "I am not disappointed, because the president is busy. But there is an opportunity that could be missed if they don't start submitting names."

Added Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), a strong White House ally who is on the committee: "With all the investigations and things that have been going on, we have not seen a steady stream of nominees coming to the Senate."

With Justice tied into knots by the various controversies (the still-unexplained firings of the US attorneys, the recent scandal involving the politicization of the selection process for immigration judges, and so on), there's simply not enough time to load the judiciary with conservative ideologues.

Weeks ago, during the weekend of the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, I had several conversations with different Hollywood liberals who were in town for the event. They each went something like this.

Hollywood liberal: Why can't we get rid of Gonzales?

Me: Why do you want to?

Hollywood liberal (after a pause): Oh, I see....

Liberals and Democrats ought to be thankful Bush is so mule-headed on this front. Retention of Gonzales is a twofer: it reaffirms the image of Bush as an out-of-touch, isolated leader overly dependent on the mediocre members of his own, small crew, and it slows down the work of the Justice Department. Maybe next Bush can bring Michael Brown back to FEMA.

GETTING PAST SEPTEMBER. In recent weeks, I've kept track of the increasing trend among Washington policymakers and lawmakers (especially of the Republican variant) to declare September the make-or-break month regarding the Iraq war. Well, each day, September draws nearer. And the recent news out of Iraq does not indicate much, if any, progress. So it's time for the anti-Septemberists to take to the street. And leading that charge is the fellow who may well be throwing away his political career to support the war started by the man who seven years ago denied him the presidency. I'm referencing Senator John McCain, who seems more tired as a presidential candidate by the week. On ABC News' "This Week" yesterday, the Arizona Republican said, "I read the polls and I know what American public opinion is, and I regret that now September seems to be a magic moment." McCain has pledged to support the US troop increase in Iraq even "if I the last man standing." This fall he may start to get rather lonely.

BADA BING. What a fake-out. Executive producer and creator David Chase ended The Sopranos not with a plot point but with a wry joke. In the middle of what seemed to be the climactic scene of the entire series--was Tony about to be whacked by hitmen or was he going to be arrested by undercover FBI agents?--the screen went dark. End of story. End of series. No, Paulie Walnuts didn't blow Tony away, as I had predicted. Nothing happened. Instead of a narrative finale, the millions watching all wondered at the same moment, "Has my cable gone out?" It was the final inside joke of a series that had been loaded with inside jokes: with the death of The Sopranos, yes, you're cable is essentially gone. Was Chase reminding all of us that, hey, even HBO is only television?

Posted by David Corn at June 11, 2007 11:07 AM