reality-based educator

From US News:

With the likelihood of a European-style no-confidence vote in the Senate against embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, some Republican strategists with ties to the White House are beginning to consider what type of a replacement nominee could win swift approval.

"We need somebody they can accept, first, then somebody who can get confirmed," said one strategist. A likely trait: The candidate will be older and with a long record of legal and public service. The White House says that it remains firm in its support for Gonzales, but there are signs that the AG's days are numbered and that he may be gone by mid-to late summer, after a replacement is settled on.

That mood was elevated when Senate Democrats called for a no-confidence vote on Gonzales. A key GOP adviser said on background that the move was "brilliant" and something Republicans should consider if they ever win the Senate back. The adviser predicted a devastating loss for the White House and Gonzales because "none of these Republican senators even want to be in the same room as the AG, no less voting that they have confidence in him."

Gonzo's a goner - the Comey testimony did him in. Kudos to Senator Schumer for bringing the former deputy attorney general back to testify about Gonzales' midnight ride to the hospital. That put GOPers on the defensive and forced their hand. It's hard to defend an A.G. who tried to get the former A.G., sick in intensive care and loaded to the gills on painkillers, to sign off on an illegal wiretapping program DOJ lawyers said was illegal