Quote of the Day

Josh Marshall, summing up why the President is unconcerned that our AG is a serial liar-

"For some, it is a matter of outrage that President Bush has renewed his support for Alberto Gonzales even after new evidence has emerged that the Attorney General has repeatedly lied about the US Attorney Purge. Myself, I see it more as a matter of confirmation and almost a welcome one in that it confirms the nature of the debate we're having.

This isn't a case where Alberto Gonzales has fallen short of the president's standards or bungled some process. This is the standard. The Attorney General has done and is doing precisely what is expected of him....

...This is about the president and the White House, which is where this entire plan was hatched. Gonzales was just following orders, executing the president's plans. This is about this president and this White House, which ... let's be honest, everyone on both sides of the aisle already knows.

(And, what's that? Why's it news that "Monica Goodling, a senior Justice Department official involved in the firings of federal prosecutors, will refuse to answer questions at upcoming Senate hearings, citing Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination, her lawyer said Monday." Nope, no scandal here, folks.)

And on that related note, Salon's Joan Walsh smacks down the beltway morons who keep floating the talking point that Democrats investigating White House/GOP malfeasance will somehow cost them politically (the most illustrative example of this groupspeak being this clip from Sunday's "Chris Matthews Show").

Walsh runs through the litany of serious issues Democrats could/should be investigating-- spying and secret prisons, Hurricane Katrina, the treatment of wounded vets, war profiteering, pre-war intelligence, etc-- and then reminds us that "Democrats are a long, long way from the frivolous partisan follies of Fostergate, Travelgate, Troopergate, Chinagate, Whitewater or anything having to do with Monica Lewinsky. I trust voters to see the difference, even if political reporters can't."

For what it's worth, the White House's ally/cheerleader at Murdoch's NY Post, John Podhoretz, blogs at the National Review: "Harriet Miers Went... And Gonzales will go too."

Not a good sign for Abu Gonzo.