Media Criticism

The New York Times and other publications have been quick to jump on the unexpected resignation slant of the Alberto Gonzales story. As you may already know, Attorney General Gonzales called President Bush on Friday to offer his resignation. Bush obviously accepted because it will help buoy what little hope he has of getting stuff done before January 2009 comes around. I don’t think anyone who observes the political scene is surprised by Gonzales’ resignation or its timing.

Gonzales has let tempers cool a bit in Congress before making the inevitable move out of the door. His obfuscation in answering questions from U.S. senators over the past few months has led to a number of legal procedures designed to get past the murk. The argument over subpoenas for Justice Department officials between the White House and Congress have raged but the singular hatred of Gonzales has died down a bit. Gonzales moved into a group of people like Bush, Cheney and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld who are scorned from a wide range of people but seem to deflect this criticism with supreme ignorance.

The Lede, a blog on the New York Times, highlighted the prevailing wisdom in the press this morning that Alberto Gonzales’ resignation was unexpected. It is unsurprising that Gonzales let the tide sweep over his entire department instead of taking the blame early in the process. The next attorney general will likely fall into the Ashcroft-Gonzales camp of legal experts without the fundamental civil libertarian views necessary to run the nation’s legal department. This person will only get about a year to do their damage so America needs to press for continued coverage of Justice Department issues in the meantime. While I disagree with the immediate post-mortem on Gonzales’ decision, I do feel that the press has done a fine job of covering the surveillance and wire tapping program.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is, amazingly, still around. Though mired in scandal after scandal, nothing seems to be able to shake Bush’s loyalty to him. Even so, when a man brings this much bad press to an already embattled administration, it’s surprising that he would still be around.

This article gives us a potential answer. By acting as a “lightning rod”, Gonzales takes the pressure off of other members of the executive branch, including Mr Bush. Our country has entered a period of great dissatisfaction with its government; the growing unpopularity of the War in Iraq has decimated Mr Bush’s already low approval rating. The vice president’s chief of staff was sentenced to jail time (and then pardoned) for his role in exposing the identity of a CIA operative. It’s safe to say that things are not going well.

However, if the press flocks around one member of the cabinet (and sells papers by calling for his resignation), other political news ends up on page seven instead of page one. This, for Mr Bush, may prove to be an excellent strategy.

The question here becomes one of timing. Gonzales cannot possibly expect to maintain his post for long; the administration must balance this “lightning rod” tactic with saving face later down the road. Also, the story will only maintain public interest for so long. When Gonzales stops selling papers, the press is going to stop writing about him. Only time will tell what Mr Bush will end up doing, but for now, his strategy seems to be solid.

Gonzales

Gonzales