Punchy AG Coverage from the Note

Oh, what would we do without ABC's The Note. They are at their best when the Washington Press Corps are deep in a whirling controversy.

My hunch is that our Attorney General will be gone by the time that Tim Russert is having his makeup applied on Sunday morning. Probably on Friday evening, just after the Evening news goes on the air.


From ABC News:

On Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, congressional Democrats and their 2008 presidential candidates are (mostly) united on how to proceed.

And/but because congressional Republicans maintain their reflexive public loyalty (their private thoughts notwithstanding), they are not calling for the departure of the Attorney General. (And the Wall Street Journal page is SO back on the Rove reservation, making it all about Webb Hubbell in their ultimate must-read editorial for those who wish to understand how the battle lines are now drawn. LINK)

But/and as the blind quotes in the must-read New York Times story by Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Jeff Zeleny make clear, some Bush loyalists are using the Gray Lady to signal to Gonzales that it is time for him to go.

The Times duo smuggle into their lede piece two anonymous sources who play the national security card against the President's close personal friend!! LINK

"The two Republicans, who spoke anonymously so they could share private conversations with senior White House officials, said top aides to Mr. Bush, including Fred F. Fielding, the new White House counsel, were concerned that the controversy had so damaged Mr. Gonzales's credibility that he would be unable to advance the White House agenda on national security matters, including terrorism prosecutions."

One of the Timespersons' "close to the Bush administration" sources says, "I really think there's a serious estrangement between the White House and Alberto now."

And the other one says this: "They're taking it seriously . . . I think Rove and Bolten believe there is the potential for erosion of the president's credibility on this issue."

Note to the AG: you better figure out who those two sources are — if you want to know what your chances are.

(And, from the same Times' story, in order to help out Frank Rich and Paul Krugman, Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) says this, with no apparent irony: "I think there are times where you just have to do what you feel is right, and this is one of those times.")