ANNOUNCED ON A MONDAY?

One thing that surprises me about the announcement of Alberto Gonzales's resignation is that it didn't take place on a Friday at 7:15 P.M. And it looks as if it could have -- Gonzales, knowing how his boss likes to do things, "submitted his [resignation] to President Bush by telephone on Friday," according to The New York Times. Monday is when these guys announce and/or leak news they want to shout from the rafters -- so this may mean the Bushies believe that the upcoming battle is going to be good for them, a way to portray Democrats as people who'd rather harass the poor, beleaguered White House than get things done. (If that's what they think, I'm not sure I agree, but it does mean they may go into the confirmation battle with relish.)

Or it could mean that they didn't think they could control the resignation story on the Sunday talk shows, because even right-wingers think Gonzales is a disaster.

As for why this is happening, I imagine Gonzales is tired of being a punching bag, tired of his boss saying, "Stick around! I want to fight these people! So go out there and get beat up for me!"

And by the way, so much for the theory advanced by some lefties that Gonzo can't resign because the Bushies can't risk having a new attorney general who would go after them for all their crimes. The next AG will be a lot less amusing in congressional hearings, but nothing significant is going to change.