The Gonzales Clown Show

Amy Goldstein writes in The Washington Post: "Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales testified yesterday that when he approved the firings of seven U.S. attorneys on a single day late last year he did not know why two of the prosecutors were on the list."

Carolyn Lochhead writes in the San Francisco Chronicle: "Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' performance before the Senate Judiciary Committee put the onus squarely on President Bush to keep his longtime Texas friend without political support or to rid his administration of a sharp thorn that works itself in deeper each day."

Sheryl Gay Stolberg writes in the New York Times that "the people he desperately needed to come to his rescue -- fellow Republicans -- proceeded one by one to throw him overboard. . . .

"It was no surprise that the Democrats on the panel skewered Mr. Gonzales. But it was also apparent that even Republicans had serious doubts about his fitness for the job. . . .

"[F]eeling saddled by the war in Iraq and still blaming Mr. Bush for their loss of control of Congress last year, they have little desire to defend the administration on a matter rooted in questions of competence and the politicization of law enforcement. . . .

"Democrats seemed gleeful as they watched Republicans go after one of their own, even as their central assertion -- that the White House had let politics interfere with law enforcement -- was subsumed by questions about Mr. Gonzales's job performance."

White House Reaction

The White House reaction to the hearing was pretty much a foregone conclusion. Perino said as much in the morning gaggle yesterday.

"Q So is it fair to say that no matter what the testimony, no matter what the back-and-forth, that the President plans to stick with Attorney General Gonzales?

"MS. PERINO: I think -- yes. I think the President has full confidence in the Attorney General and whenever that changes for any public servant, we'll let you know, and I see no indication of that."

But here is Suzanne Malveaux on CNN last night describing the White House reaction to Wolf Blitzer: "Well, Wolf, publicly they are saying, of course, the president stands by Gonzales. That he did a terrific job today. That he explained himself. He answered those questions and it showed that there was no wrongdoing from the attorney general.

"Now, privately, there was a lot of concern here from folks here in this building behind me, talking to other prominent Republicans, sources involved in those discussions saying, even two senior White House aides describing Gonzales' testimony as going down in flames, not doing himself any favors. One prominent Republican source saying the testimony was watching a clubbing of baby seal here.

"They were very troubled by what they heard. They also went on to say that they were shocked that he did not win over Democrats and perhaps that he lost Republicans as well. What does this mean? Well they say the White House is simply in a wait and see mode to see how the public responds, to see members of congress respond, specifically those Republicans."