A Tale of Two Resignations

by emptywheel

If you compare Bush's comments on Rove's resignation with his comments on Gonzales' resignation, it sure seems like Rove left on Bush's terms, whereas Gonzales left on his own terms. Here's how Bush announced the departure of the man who had made his entire political career.

Karl Rove is moving on down the road.  I've been talking to Karl for a while about his desire to spend more time with Darby and Andrew.  This is a family that has made enormous sacrifices not only for our beloved state of Texas, but for a country we both love.

We've been friends for a long time, and we're still going to be friends. I would call Karl Rove a dear friend.  We've known each other as youngsters interested in serving our state.  We worked together so we could be in a position to serve this country.  And so I thank my friend.

That's it. No expression of regret. No celebration of Rove's accomplishments. Just an emphasis that he and Rove would continue to be friends, as if Rove had been weeping on Bush's shoulder all night because Bush told Rove he had a new girlfriend. "Let's just be friends, Karl."

By contrast, Bush hails Gonzales' career with four paragraphs of tribute. Further, Bush admits that he tried, unsuccessfully, to convince Gonzales to stay.

This morning, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced that he will leave the Department of Justice, after two and a half years of service to the department.  Al Gonzales is a man of integrity, decency and principle.  And I have reluctantly accepted his resignation, with great appreciation for the service that he has provided for our country.

And Bush's angry words made it crystal clear why Gonzales resigned.

After months of unfair treatment that has created a harmful distraction at the Justice Department, Judge Gonzales decided to resign his position, and I accept his decision.  It's sad that we live in a time when a talented and honorable person like Alberto Gonzales is impeded from doing important work because his good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons.

Gonzales quit because of the multiple scandals circling around him. And Bush is pissed that he wasn't able to keep him on in spite of those scandals. Just as likely, Bush is also pissed that he has to find a replacement for Gonzales (Rove's replacement requires no Senate approval) and that his loyal firewall just disappeared.

But I'm most curious by what the comparison says about the reasons for Rove's resignation. If there had been any doubt before, the comparison of Bush's treatment of two long-time friends makes it pretty clear Bush was quite satisfied to see Rove go. No wonder Novak made that nasty attack on Bush when he mourned Rove.

Comments

[phred]

WELCOME BACK!

So here's what I don't get -- Bush is clearly unhappy to see Gonzo go, so who put Gonzo up to it? I find it hard to believe that he left against Bush's wishes. So who made the call? Gonzo's wife? Cheney? Any ideas?

[Loo Hoo.]

Unfortunately, I don't think that your having stayed away longer would have made all of our dreams come true...

I sure hope somebody has the goods on Novak and that we'll learn the connections. I'm sure you'll be the first to figure it out for us!

[DeeLoralei in Memphis]

You've been missed! But yea, what forced Gonzo's hand? The wife? Offer of permanent wingnut welfare? A pre-pardon in hand? Something big and nasty proving his illegality coming on Sept 4? Inquiring minds want to know.

[tekel]

Well, clearly Rove resigned first, so that he could be named to replace Gonzales. Attorney General Karl Rove. Just kinda rolls off the tongue doesn't it?

[bmaz]

I think that is a very plausible theory. I wonder if it is also possible that they know Rove has contacts everywhere and is tough enough to stand on his own, but that Gonzo is a meek, weak little radioactive cipher; they needed to get that word of support out regarding Gonzales and Bushes announcements were written for him with that in mind. Shrubb sure was pissy this morning though....

[bluebird]

Bush was standing with Rove when Rove gave his farewell speech. But Gonzales had to give his farewell speech all by himself.

[Mimikatz]

I'm beginning to lean to the idea that someone is doing clean-up on the Bush/Cheney regime, and that it started with Robert Gates coming in as Sec Def. That person or persons got Fredo to fall on his sword because he had just become too much of a lightning rod, and perhaps Fredo himself got tired of becoming a figure of ridicule in service of an ungrateful master.

Rove left to continue his dirty tricks off the radar for someone, but Fredo hasn't got alot going for him in the employment dept, one would think.

[Mad Dogs]

One of Turdblossom's most regular tactics is taking one's own weakness and protraying it as one's opponent's weakness.

So in keeping with Marcy's last point that Junya wasn't unhappy to see Turdblossom go, I offer Turdblossom's own evidence that this feeling was mutual:

From the NYT:

"There was one stark sign that Rove truly was leaving. He expressed what no White House aide would express publicly, though many senior officials have shared the sentiment privately: that is, distaste for the president's beloved Scottish terrier, Barney, who is seen by some as aloof and entitled. "Barney's a lump," he joked.

Translation: Junya's a lump.

And who would know better?

[pdaly]

reposted from previous thread:

Welcome back, EW.

Any idea why yet another Manic Monday?

Seems Friday is not good enough for these folks anymore. Or is the gooder stuff still slipping out the back door on Fridays? Hard to image.

Bush's lament over the loss of Gonzales "because his good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons" can be parsed as an admission that the WH asked AGAG do political deeds (signing the torture memo, signing off on the NSA warrentless eavesdropping, firing assistant US attorneys whom deigned to investigate and prosecute corrupt Republican politicians) for the good of the Neocon cabal. And the phrase "his good name was dragged through the mud" is code for "AGAG took the bullet for us". Or is 'mud' a veiled reference to a meatgrinder?

[JohnJ]

Someone (here?) suggested that Fredo would make a acceptable Real Estate lawyer.

[croatoan]

Barney, who is seen by some as aloof and entitled

Aloof and entitled? Who puts that much thought into the personality of a dog? Or did they mean the president?

[Susan S]

Hard to be away, isn't it? We missed you, EW.

[Mickey]

Today, it occurred to me that if Congress were to cut off funding for this war, Bush and Cheney both might resign in protest. I think what put that possibility in my mind was thinking about Gonzales and Rove resigning - as a harbinger of something to come. They don’t really care about the country anyway. They care about getting their way. I can hear them blasting Congress with some kind of made up patriotism as they sailed into the sunset.

[pdaly]

oops, make that "US attorneys" and the politicization, with the help of his assistants, of the "career DoJ positions"

[zhiv]

Welcome back ew. Nice work with the hiatus resignation mojo.

What nobody seems to be saying in the coverage of this, while they're so busy repeating that the question of who generated the list of fired USAs has never been answered, is that Karl Rove is the main suspect in generating that list. And Rove was the architect of the DoJ politicization by Sampson, the Schloz, Gooling, etc. So when Rove leaves 10 days ago, the firewall job that has had Gonzo's head spinning all year disappears, more or less (letting Fred Fielding and Addington/executive privilege worry about the Bush/Cheney firewall at this point).

This way Gonzo can focus on his legal defense for domestic wiretapping, and stay out of the McConnell/FISA fight.

But without Rove to protect, it seems like Gonzo started looking at his moves on the board in a new light.

Is it dominoes? Cheney/Fielding/Gillespie decide that Rove can hit the road, which leads to your post. The absence of Rove domino knocks over the Gonzo domino, in a slight surprise but still just the physics of critical mass.

[phred]

zhiv -- I like your analysis and I agree that taking Rove off the board reduces Gonzo's usefulness, but not entirely. Bush/Cheney still cannot afford to have an independent AG who will block their spying efforts, put an end to torture and extraordinary rendition, disavow the military tribunal system, or appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Bush and Cheney's conduct along with all their little henchmen. This is why I'm so puzzled by Gonzo's resignation, Bush still needs a henchman running DoJ and it is not clear to me how he is going to get one in place (assuming Clement doesn't stay put due to lack of confirmation of anyone else by the Senate).

[Bob in HI]

I'm on a different track on these resignations. Who do you suppose benefitted the most? Can I suggest Dick Cheney? Ever since the Libby conviction, the spotlight has been ON Gonzales and Rove, and OFF Cheney. The WaPo series exposed Cheney for a while, but was soon forgotten because of the relentless spotlight on Gonzales and Rove. Am I reading that right?

It is good to see two of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse heading for the exits, but isn't it time to re-focus on Cheney now? I'm predicting there will be a skirmish between those who want to keep the spotlight on Rove and Gonzo (fed tidbits perhaps by Cheney's minions, in order to keep those pots boiling), and those who want to re-focus on Cheney.

Bob in HI

[Mad Dogs]

I'm of the opinion that both Turdblossom and Fredo were "thrown under the bus". The "why" is still murky.

I agree with EW that Junya was not unhappy to see Turdblossom go, and that Junya was real unhappy to see Fredo go.

It also seems obvious to me that "something negative" caused both departures. It also seems obvious that neither would willingly leave if "something negative" wasn't pending.

It might be something as simple as the "Grown-up" Repugs telling Junya to clean house so that his dirty laundry won't add further fuel to the failing Repug 08 efforts. Stop the bleeding, if you will.

Or it might be something far more legally perilous to Junya's remaining time in the WH. Stuff like "fired US Attorneys" certainly tops the list as a probable candidate. And FISA stuff probably ain't far behind, though I don't see any real visible trails back to Turdblossom on that one.

In any event, the seminal point has to be that nobody leaves like this without there being fire where previously was smoke.

[Dismayed]

I don't think we can read much into the resignation speeches. Bush doesn't write them, and they know we try endlessly to read into them.

I think Gonzo simply carried it far enough to let an interim get them well into election fever, and the repubs in congress are calling for less lighning rods near the party. It's that simple, no better time than now to get rid of these guys for election purposes.

[Neil]

Gonzo spends the weekend in Crawford and returns to DC in time to hold his resignation presser at 9AM Monday.

Bush and Gonzo could have easily held a joint press conference in Crawford and Bush could have given Gonzo the same tearful sendoff he gave Rove but instead the announcement was done in two parts, effecively DISTANCING the President from Gonzo.

It wasn't the hypartisan Democrats who forced Gonzo's resignation, it was hyperpartisan Republicans. Unfortunetly, since Rove and Novak are no longer BFF, and Rove is busy hunting dove's and trashing Hillary, we have no peak inside.

[lespool]

By constantly stating the obvious that "congressional investigations will continue," the Democrats are sounding a mite bit defensive --- after all why wouldn't they? I'm beginning to fear that the Dems were once again manipulated by Fielding, agreeing to conceal evidence of egregious crimes that would blow Bush's pop stand wide open as long as "a few" of the criminals resigned. The Dems blind-sided justice the moment they approved of wiretapping Americans without warrants --- so what's keeping them from collaborating with criminals? Sorry if I sound pessimistic.

[Sally]

Dare I mention there were illustrious members of the press in Crawford supposedly watching the king's every move and none saw anything to report? Or did they all go to bed early (before the Gonzales luncheon fete)?

[emptywheel]

Neil

Yes--rather interesting that Gonzales didn't stay for the public announcement. Though presumably they needed to get back to their kids, who really are (unlike Libby's kids, as was claimed) small enough to need parents around.

[dustbunny44]

Why did Rove leave?
He is obviously not spending more time with his family, because he's more in the msm and bashing opponents publicly than ever before.
I beleive Rove left to prepare for 2008, which is not a Bush race and so doesn't need him on the inside.

[casual observer]

Haven't read comments, apologize for duplications, but regarding the rushed nature of the resignation. In reading Cornyn's response to the announcement, he seemed surprised, out of the loop. This seemed unusual and strange, a long-time friend of both Bush and Gonzo, and Texas senator.

[Alyx]

When I first heard of this guys appointment, I sensed something funny from the start. I had the inkling that he was set up for a fall guy right from the start.

[montag]

Curious that, once again, the record is scrubbed of one of Bush's Freudian slips. In the quote above, the video is obvious--Bush says, "Alberto Gonzales is impeding...," and then catches himself.

That's been Abu's job from day one. Not to be impeded, but to impede.

[Jodi]

Each of the two men had his own needs.

George Bush gave them what they wanted.

[priscianus jr]

Truer words were never spoken, Jodi. And I guess he's no longer giving them what they wanted. Fascinating.