How Hard Did He Have To Bite His Lip?

One might expect a President to defend his Attorney General, even while searching for the sword to slip between his ribs, but this might take the cake:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Monday accused Democrats in Congress who are seeking no-confidence votes on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales of engaging in "pure political theater."[...]

Bush and Gonzales maintain that the ousters were justified though mishandled. Critics charge it seems as if Gonzales politicized the Justice Department and the firing of a number of federal prosecutors.

Bush rejected those charges, saying: "I frankly view what's taking place in Washington today as pure political theater."

"And it is the kind of political theater that has caused the American people to lose confidence in how Washington operates," Bush said at a joint news conference at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.

Now, if this had been his weekly radio address, I can imagine a quick trip to the cough button, followed by about ten seconds of dead air as Bush composes himself from the paroxystic fit of laughter.

The American people lost confidence in the war in Iraq roughly two years ago, and yet our esteemed President suddenly now wants us to pay attention to the feelings and opinions of the American people as he continues to attempt his coup-by-proxy of the government?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..."Nothing to see here, folks! Move along! Move along!"

What's the next move in this chess game (or beat in this theatre piece, if you want to extrude Bush's tortured metaphor)? Here's a clue:

Busy legislative schedules will likely prevent Senate or House votes on the resolutions until next month, aides said.

Expect Gonzalez's resignation on Saturday, is the glaring note I take from this. Newspapers and wire services don't waste words when reporting up-to-date news, and that this paragraph is in a wire service story so prominently tells me that there's background information out there that can't be reported upon.

Of course, this wouldn't be the first Bush administration official to be ousted after getting a verbal bulwark from Bush. Heckuva a job there, Brownskinny!

snarkasm, snarcasm, snarky

Bush
Alberto Gonzalez