Reply #1: Ah, much more than all the above....

[punpirate]

He's a hand-picked Bush stooge. He was in Texas, and is in Washington. This is a whatever-the-boss-wants guy. That, in a way, makes him even more dangerous than Ashcroft, who often seemed to be off in his own little world much of the time.

When Gonzales was first picked for White House counsel, the stories began to come out about the indifference and haste and obfuscation with which he treated execution orders. The law in Texas is pretty specific about what the judge must do in counseling the governor on execution orders--including a thorough synopsis of each case, including the legal arguments relating to trial and appeal--and Gonzales rarely, if ever, provided that detail. It was clearly a case of telling the boss what he wanted to hear.

Gonzales is also a behind-the-scenes guy. Ashcroft was, at heart, a politician and loved having his face on the front page. We're going to see very little of Mr. Gonzales, and I suspect, neither will Congress. What he will be doing behind the scenes, lord only knows.