Monday, a somber and angry President Bush chastised a system that doesn't allow those who are willing to serve to do so. President Bush stated, "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." When a man has shown so much disdain for the Constitution, who believed his job as attorney general was to protect and defend the president rather than the Constitution, and has used minutia and legalese to subvert the law of the land, having his name dragged through the mud is a light sentence. People have been arrested, tried, and convicted for doing less.
But the problem wasn't Gonzales. The problem was and always has been that the president places loyalty over competence. This has been the problem with this administration since day one. At every opportunity, the president has put yes men or sycophants, with few qualifications, in positions that needed much more than that. And it has been those decisions that have hampered his administration and have tarnished our democracy. From Katrina, the Iraq war, the war on terror, domestic spying, and to the firing of the attorney generals, all those debacles can be traced back to the decisions of a man who has been in over his head since he was barely elected in 2000.
Now, Alberto Gonzales finally resigned. An act that was long overdue. But this is not a sad moment as many Republicans will tell you. His resignation should be celebrated. It was a great day for a nation that has been living under a specter of secrecy and fear. Now you couple that with the recently resigned Karl Rove, who tried and succeeded in his politicizing of every department in the federal government, and you can see that the tide is turning. Our democracy is starting to emerge from six years of lies, deceit and scandal. With the resignations of Rumsfeld, Rove and Gonzales, hope is being restored to those who believe the constitution is more important than the political affiliation one might claim.
Now if only President Bush and Vice President Cheney can take the honorable way out and resign as well then we can truly rejoice.
