The Gingrich Tease

"Gingrich was visiting 'GMA' to talk about his new book, 'Pearl Harbor: A Novel of December the 8th,' which he co-wrote with William Forstchen . . .

"Gingrich said Republican candidates needed to champion large-scale reforms. 'I think unless a Republican who is nominated is committed to fundamental change in Washington they will certainly lose the election,' he said."

A week earlier, on "Face the Nation," Gingrich said he would spend the summer developing proposals, and "if people adopt them and people campaign on them, I probably won't run. If, however, the ideas require an advocate and citizenship requires me to run, then in October, you know, starting on September 30th, we'll look very seriously at whether or not that's necessary."

Sounds like a shakedown. Buy my ideas . . . or else.

The Washington Times, meanwhile, gives credence to another candidate getting in:

"New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is prepared to spend an unprecedented $1 billion of his own $5.5 billion personal fortune for a third-party presidential campaign, personal friends of the mayor tell The Washington Times . . .

"The mayor has told close associates he will make a third-party run if he thinks he can influence the national debate and has said he will spend up to $1 billion. Earlier, he told friends he would make a run only if he thought he could win a plurality in a three-way race and would spend $500 million -- or less than 10 percent of his personal fortune."

Does it seem like everyone at Justice is resigning except Alberto Gonzales?

"Paul McNulty, the Justice Department's No. 2 lawyer, whose congressional testimony in February fueled the uproar over the firing of at least eight U.S. attorneys, announced his resignation Monday, becoming the fourth senior department official to quit during the festering controversy," says the Chicago Tribune.

"McNulty's departure as the department's day-to-day manager was widely expected but nonetheless represents a blow to the leadership of Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales, who has been battling for weeks to keep his job in the face of demands for his resignation by lawmakers from both parties . . .

"McNulty was closely tied to the firing scandal in part because he oversees the office that manages U.S. attorneys and in part because his congressional testimony managed to inflame lawmakers, several of the fired prosecutors and Gonzales."

McNulty said they had performance problems, which turned out to be not exactly true.