I heard the news this morning that US Attorney General Roberto Gonzales has resigned:

The first Hispanic to hold the job, Gonzales will step down on Sept. 17. In a brief statement, he called his 13 years in public service a “remarkable journey,” but he gave no explanation about why he chose to resign now after resisting months of pressure to quit.

An administration official said that Gonzales had told President Bush of his decision on Friday, but the announcement was withheld until the two met face to face on Sunday at Bush’s ranch in Crawford. Bush planned to make a statement shortly before noon from Waco, Tex.

More GOP self destruction is my guess. Gonzales has weathered the storm of the FISA-NSA battles (and actually won them) and he made it through the silliness that was the departure of 8 US AG’s who were not performing up to par. Gonzales had taken the hits from the left and the American people had ho-hummed all the silly little conspiracy theories that the left had come up with. So why throw Gonzales under the bus?

The far right who are still fuming over immigration reform and who are withholding support from Iraq – as they threatened would happen. People forget that Gonzales, like Miers but to a lesser degree, was resisted by the far right. He was Hispanic and had far left Hispanic groups cheering the first Hispanic AG (why wouldn’t they?). For example check this item from the time of his nomination:

Jesus Lopez, who immigrated legally to the United States, resents the agenda being pushed by groups like La Raza. He’s also upset that a possible Attorney General like Gonzales would associate with what Lopez calls “racist organizations who want to take back the borders states through invasion, promote open borders, voting for illegal aliens, driver’s licenses for illegal aliens and an official proclamation of sorts for their own culture.” Lopez said he and his family had to wait their turn to legally enter the United States and they are proud to be Americans first and says organizations like La Raza don’t want to promote harmony but are militant.

Pure fantasizing bunk. Bush nor Gonzales ever once promoted those kind of far left policies. But the far right is so insecure over immigration they can be counted on to overreact.

But the anti-abortion groups feared Gonzales too, again all based on rumour and innuendo – nothing hard:

Late last week, a delegation of conservative lawyers led by C. Boyden Gray and former Attorney General Edwin Meese III met with the White House chief of staff, Andrew H. Card Jr., to warn that appointing Mr. Gonzales would splinter conservative support.

And Paul M. Weyrich, a veteran conservative organizer and chairman of the Free Congress Foundation, said he had told administration officials that nominating Mr. Gonzales, whose views on abortion are considered suspect by religious conservatives, would fracture the president’s conservative backers.

All the dire predictions were wrong and silly. But the far right now has some opportunity for revenge. Revenge against Jorge Bush – the traitor. I seriously doubt this was an act to appease the left in Congress or the media – the damage was done and past. This might just be the far right on their continuing purity inquisition. If so, it seems interesting that this time they do not seem too interested in publicizing it. If it comes out Gonzales had an “et tu Brutus?” moment then I would suspect the GOP will not be able to take over Congress in 2008. The backlash will be too strong.

Update: Folks, it is quite clear the Democrats would pile on Gonzales. So the fact is many on the right have been screeming for his head and Bush needs support for Iraq. Look at Bush’s statement:

After months of unfair treatment, that has created a harmful distraction at the Justice Department, Judge Gonzales decided to resign his position and I accept his decision.

It’s sad that we live in a time when a talented and honorable person like Alberto Gonzales is impeding from doing important work because his good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons.

And then look at these comments from April of this year:

The letter concludes by saying, “Attorney General Gonzales has proven an unsuitable steward of the law and should resign for the good of the country… The President should accept the resignation, and set a standard to which the wise and honest might repair in nominating a successor…” It is the first public demand by a group of conservatives for Gonzales’ firing. Signatories to the letter include Bruce Fein, a former senior official in the Reagan Justice Department, who has worked frequently with current Administration and the Republican National Committee to promote Bush’s court nominees; David Keene, chairman of the influential American Conservative Union, one of the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots conservative groups; Richard Viguerie, a well-known G.O.P. direct mail expert and fundraiser; and Bob Barr, the former Republican Congressman from Georgia and free speech advocate, as well as John Whitehead, head of the Rutherford Institute, a conservative non-profit active in fighting for what it calls religious freedoms.

Or how about this gem from Malkin:

Laura Ingraham blasted Gonzales last week …

Rich Lowry says: “Smart insiders are thinking he’s out, perhaps by the end of the week. For what it’s worth…”

For what it’s worth, I can’t say I’ll miss him.

Or how about Gringrich?

“The public would be much better served to have another attorney general,” said Gingrich, who is considering a possible 2008 presidential run. “I cannot imagine how he’s going to be effective for the rest of his administration.”

The cries from the right for Gonzales to go have been coming as fast and furious as the calls from the left for us to surrender Iraq. Everyone wants to surrender to their opponents. Ugh! Winners these people are not.