What does it take to get rid of Gonzales?

This is a guy who tried to pressure a sick man in the intensive care unit to go along with Bush's illegal eavesdropping program. And you know that the eavesdropping plan must be profoundly wrong if even Ashcroft refused to sign off on it.

Why does Bush keep clinging on to his ethically-challenged Attorney General? Maybe because the call that sent Gonzales scurrying to the hospital was from the White House. Jason Leopold and Matt Renner at Truthout report the details from testimony by former Acting Attorney General James Comey:

Comey described in extraordinary detail how the March 9, 2004 meeting at the hospital unfolded.

"I was headed home at about 8 o'clock that evening; my security detail was driving me," Comey said.

"And I remember exactly where I was - on Constitution Avenue - and got a call from Attorney General Ashcroft's chief of staff telling me that he had gotten a call from Mrs. Ashcroft from the hospital ... Mrs. Ashcroft reported that the call had come through, and that as a result of that call, Mr. Card and Mr. Gonzales were on their way to the hospital to see Mr. Ashcroft."

Comey said that he rushed to the hospital to arrive before the White House officials.

Comey testified that he believed President Bush had phoned Ashcroft's hospital room directly, and he was sure that the call "came from the White House." Mrs. Ashcroft was not allowing any calls to be taken by her ill husband. She then called Ashcroft's chief of staff to inform him that the White House was sending Gonzales and Card to the hospital to meet with the debilitated attorney general face to face.

At Ashcroft's bedside, Gonzales did most of the talking, Comey said, adding that Gonzales and Card pressed the attorney general to reauthorize the program in spite of reservations about its legality. Comey said Ashcroft reiterated his concerns and refused to sign the order reauthorizing the program.

I don't know about you, but this story gives me the creeps! It's ghoulishly thuggish, and probably typical tactics for this lot. It used to be, if you turned over a rock and exposed the creepy crawlies, they'd shrivel up and die. Under the Bush regime, the lies and illegalities have multiplied while soldiers and citizens are the ones to die. Gonzales deserves to be tossed for what he has done. The Democrats heading up committee investigations need to keep digging and exposing the truth until there's nothing left to be done but impeach Bush.