Specter Expects Gonzales To Resign

(CBS)  A resolution calling for a vote of no confidence in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is being introduced in the Senate this week, but the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee says he thinks Gonzales will resign before then.

"I have a sense ... that before the vote is taken, that Attorney General Gonzales may step down," Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Penn., said on Face The Nation. "Votes of no confidence are very rare... And I think historically, that is something which Attorney General Gonzales would like to avoid."

Specter would not say which way he will vote on the no confidence resolution, but he did say that there is no doubt that the Justice Department would be better off if Gonzales left.

"I think the actual termination is a personal one for the attorney general, and also for the president," Specter said. "I'm not going to tell the president what to do... We have separation of powers."

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat who is introducing the no confidence vote, told Bob Schieffer that she wasn't sure if enough Republicans would join her for it to pass, but she said Gonzales had little support on either side of the aisle.

"I see no strong support for the attorney general within the Republicans," she said. "I think on our side of the aisle, the Democratic side, there are very strong feelings that go way back to many of the opinions, his concept of attorney general, which is that he wears two hats – one to serve the president, the other to serve the people."

Specter said he believed a "sizable number" of Republican lawmakers would join Democrats in the vote.

Both Specter and Feinstein said what is important is that the Justice Department continue to do its duty.

"I'm very worried about the department. I think its credibility is crumbling. I think what's happened to one of it most powerful arms, which is the federal prosecutorial arm, has damaged it seriously," Feinstein said. "And I think the only thing that can really change that is a new attorney general."

"The Department of Justice is second only to the Department of Defense in providing for security – they do the work on anti-terrorism investigations, they have the work on drug enforcement, violent crime enforcement," Specter said. "And the morale in the department is very low."

[toldyouso21]

If the no confidence vote has no effect on Bush and the USAG, then Congress should cut off all new appropriations, hamstring the old and allow no new measures that are in anyway connected to Gonzales to come to the floor. If Bush refuses to respect or recognize the power of the Congress, then as Biden said--"it should be rammed down his (and Gonzales's) throat. Time to take back the White House and the government. Since Congress can only control the purse strings--then it is time they act like it and begin controlling them. Let's see how much power Bush and the WH have in that department when no one is getting paid anymore.

[aaabee-2009]

What is the difference, Mudrose?

What great example of moral uprightness has your bunch given us? What great open-heartedness has Limbaugh given us? What great compromise has Bush given us?

What is that? You said nothing?

You flap your gums about liberals, when you aren't anything but a hypocrite. Just like Newt Gingrich, you stand in judgement of others while hiding your own disgusting habits.

I love how you condemn those who don't think the way you want them to think.

But what you don't care to notice is these same folks have deep good in their hearts and love their country and want a better future for their children. I know liberals who put an empty wallet in their pockets and go home to empty refrigerators because they work minimum wage jobs that can't even buy Bush's gas anymore. And I know liberals that send their last few dollars to charity.

So you go ahead and bust on half the population of your own country. I am going over and stand with the real heros, my fellow Dems.

There is a difference, Mudrose.

[mudrose-2009]

Hey Mudrose, haven't you heard? This is the BUSH administration; WE DON'T NEED PROOF ANYMORE! :-)
Posted by BobEBenson

So true, the Dumnos don't need proof. They can make up any story they want and get people like you to believe it. How stupid can the lefties be? Very, indeed. They lie so well they can't tell the differenc.e

[aaabee-2009]

It seems Republicans these days place far more worth on the quality of their excuses than on the quality of their character.

Gonzo is just the last in a long line of not-quite-ethical examples set by the moral conservative side of the house, with no rebuttal by any of our religious leaders on what their public representatives are representing to the public these days.

[bobebenson]

"Especially since this is all smoke and mirrors on Slimballs part "


Hey Mudrose, haven't you heard? This is the BUSH administration; WE DON'T NEED PROOF ANYMORE! :-)

[david1737]

mudrose

You live in Neo-con land. It's a land where the Iraqi's greet us with flowers, and Rummi finds the mythological WMD. In Neo-con land corruption is rewarded and Alberto Gonzalas isn't an evil scumbag. Enjoy your little fantasy land while it lasts. lol

[mudrose-2009]

It's killing slimball Schumer that he can't get to Carl Rove via Gonzo. It's just killing him. Especially since this is all smoke and mirrors on Slimballs part to accuse the Administration of being unethical, knowing full well the Clinton Administration could do circles around Bush for all their lying and theivery and unethical behaviors. Well, slimball Schumer will have to take another route. The AG did nothing wrong. He knows it and so do the American people. It's getting rather boring that the only thing these people can come up with is nothing but mock trials and defeatist attitudes. What a bunch of losers. No small wonder their ratings are below Bush's.

[toldyouso21]

It may be...that Gonzales could care less about the "blackmarks" that may be left in history. Face it, when someone does not mind advocating torture, illegal wiretaps or corrupting the DOJ--they really do not care about how they look to others or even how history will judge them.

Those who care about history can be separated into several camps:

1. Those who care about popularity

2. Those who do not know History changes and is reinterpreted/rewritten to suit those in power

3. Historians and pundits

Gonzales believes he has a higher calling. Like Condi, Gonzales believes he is 'wedded' to Bush and therefore, sustaining the wishes of his husband is paramount. You know what they say--love is blind. He will repeat: He serves (in all capacities) at the pleasure of the President. And as long as Bush takes pleasure in his service--he really does not care what any of us think or how Congress votes--Specter may want to get a clue--and maybe...it is time for him to stop sitting on the fence and vote for the man to leave also. To say he needs to--then vote the opposite or abstain is political cowardice.

[toldyouso21]

So who did not see this coming? Every single person who confirmed Gonzales should be voted out of office. I mean the man condoned Torture and subversion of the Constitution, for Pete's sake. Before the smoke clears, I am sure this DOJ scandal will be the least of the horrors that Bush and his love boy have cooked up.

[retiredinmex]

Whata bufoon this Attorney General is....a typical Bush appointee. What goes around....