Finally, a compelling reason why Gonzales should stay

The Senate Republicans have articulated the best reason I can think for why Alberto Gonzales should remain Attorney General. Until now, the best reason has been that there’s no evidence that he did anything wrong in connection with the removal of the eight U.S. attorneys or much wrong in connection with anything else. That’s not a bad justification, but it was undercut to some degree by the absence of any indication that Gonzales has done much right as Attorney General.
But now, according to Newsweek (per Captain’s Quarters), Senate Republicans have told President Bush that Gonzales must go if the administration wants to see any progress on its legislative agenda, including immigration. In fact, the only part of Bush’s legislative agenda that offers the promise of progress is immigration reform. And considering how much damage the administration, the congressional Democrats, and (yes) the Senate Republicans can accomplish through such reform, the prospect of stalling it has me rooting for Gonzales to stay.
Unfortunately, though, it’s probably not the case that immigration reform depends on dumping Gonzales. If there’s an agreement to be had on this issue that serves the political purposes of a critical mass of Congress, even I don’t hold Congress in low enough esteem to suppose the agreement will fail due to the identity of the Attorney General.
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