Eyes Wide Stupid Tuesday: Weeping For Gonzo

GONZO GOES - 'MOB' WINS

by Rich Lowry

"ALBERTO Gonzales's tenure as attorney general, and now his departure, represent a triumph for what departing White House adviser Karl Rove calls "the mob" - the howling mass of Democratic members of Congress, bloggers and media commentators who despise all things Bush.

The mob doesn't win only when it chases a target from office. It also scores a subtle victory when it forces the administration to keep in office an ineffectual or politically wounded official to demonstrate that it won't get pushed around by its frenzied detractors. Thus, Gonzales remained attorney general long after everyone but President Bush had decided that he was ill-suited for the job. The administration suffered months of unnecessary embarrassment as it stuck by Gonzales on the theory that giving in to the mob would be worse - only to see Gonzales resign anyway."

Part and parcel of succeeding in politics is...drumroll please...being a politician.

Duh. X Infinity.

Alberto was not a good speaker. Matter of fact, Alberto was a halting, skittish, clumsy speaker. Safe to say that Alberto came across as the worst Attorney General in recent memory, due in large part to his total inability to communicate even the simplest of things without coming across like a whingy little hall monitor trying to explain to the principal how it was he let the jocks give him an atomic wedgie for the umpteenth time.

Politics is a down and dirty game played by down and dirty street fighters, so for Rich Lowry to suddenly discover this fact of life is more the story than an incompetent lawyer coming to the conclusion that he's better at ambulance chasing than stammering to Congress so its high time to scoot back home and rake in the big bucks what with that boffo new resume and all.

The sooner Republicans learn how to fight back the sooner kids like Lowry will understand what life in the big city is all about and get down to the brass tacks of booting the loons out. Yes, the enemy is ruthless. No, you don't beat him by whining about it.