A No Confidence Monday

It's hard to imagine how anyone can still have any confidence in this Attorney General's ability to do his job. His credibility is in tatters, his memory is apparently shot too, and at least six Republican senators have publicly called for his resignation.

There's plenty of reasons for Gonzales' resignation -- even impeachment. We could start with his egregiously partisan behavior in the US Attorneys scandal, and continue to his lies under oath regarding the matter. Or we could go with his blatant politicization of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, or his FBI's widespread abuse of PATRIOT act powers to spy on ordinary Americans.

Chuck Schumer said it best: "If all senators who have actually lost confidence in Attorney General Gonzales voted their conscience, this vote would be unanimous. However, the President will certainly exert pressure to support the Attorney General, his longtime friend. We will soon see where people's loyalties lie."

It will be especially telling to see how those six Republican Senators who have already called for Gonzales to resign -- including Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, John Sununu of New Hampshire, Norm Coleman of Minnesota, Gordon Smith of Oregon and John McCain of Arizona -- cast their votes.

The Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, has promised to lard up the resolution with meaningless amendments and slow it down procedurally.

I wonder how Kay Bailey and Box Turtle Cornyn will vote?

Update (6/11, 2:30 p.m.): Arlen Specter, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary committee and someone who has previously stopped short of calling for Gonzo to step down, will vote in favor of the no-confidence resolution. A vote scheduled this evening will require sixty votes -- ten GOP senators (in addition to all the Democrats and independents) -- to invoke cloture and proceed to the resolution. Besides the six named above and Specter, three other Senators have spoken disparagingly of the attorney general: Lindsay Graham of South Carolina, Pat Roberts of Kansas, and Jeff Sessions of Alabama. I'll update this post with the votes of all ten later tonight.

Update II (5:50 p.m.) Motion fails, 53-38. Six Republicans -- Coleman, Collins, Hagel, Smith, Snowe, Specter, Sununu -- supported the measure. Republican Ted Stevens of Alaska voted 'present'.

Joe Lieberman opposed it.

Sunday Funnies (late edition)

Lebron, Duncan to get whacked by Tony Soprano

NBA versus the mob tonight. Basketball players figure to lose:

When the Cleveland Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs tip off Game Two of the NBA Finals, they will be up against the last episode of "The Sopranos" and figure to get whacked in the TV ratings.

...

"Me and my guys have definitely sat down to think about it," James said. "My friends think that either the Feds are going to come and get him or he's going to make friends with the Feds and maybe snitch on a lot of people.

"Or he's going to be whacked, which I don't think is going to happen. I hope that he's just able to get away and not worry about nothing."

James has a small problem. He has a previous engagement Sunday night and won't be able to watch the final episode when it airs for the first time. He plans on catching up when he gets back to Cleveland next week.

"I did have my girlfriend TiVo 'The Sopranos,' definitely, so when I get home I'll be able to watch it," James said. "But I think I'll be more focused on Tony Parker."

...

"I'll watch it during vacation," said Parker, who also is planning a wedding in France (to "Desperate Housewife" Eva Longoria) that is less than a month away. "I'll watch the whole season. I missed the whole season. I've got a lot of catching up to do."

I'll be DVR'ing the ballgame and watching HBO and trying hard not to blink.

Sunday Funnies (early edition)

And starring Scooter Libby as Paris Hilton

The Wonkette, via Editor and Publisher. Schadenfreude levels are dangerously elevated:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Screaming and crying, Irve “Scooter” Libby was escorted out of a courtroom and back to jail Friday after a judge ruled that he must serve out his entire 30-month sentence behind bars rather than in his home.

“It’s not right!” shouted the weeping Libby, who was convicted of four felonies in a reckless spy-outing case. “Mom!” he called out to Dick Cheney in the audience.

Libby, who was brought to court in handcuffs in a sheriff’s car, came into the courtroom disheveled and weeping, hair askew, sans makeup, wearing a gray fuzzy sweat shirt over slacks.

He cried throughout the hearing, his body shook constantly and he dabbed at his eyes. Several times he turned to James Carville and Mary Matalin, seated behind him in the courtroom, and mouthed, “I love you.”

Federal District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton was calm but apparently irked by the morning’s developments.

“I at no time condoned the actions of the Dick Cheney and at no time told him I approved the actions,” he said of the decision to pardon Libby after three days.

Really though: why should Scooter receive a presidential pardon? Has he ever gone down on anyone in a bootleg Internet video or flashed his kootchie to the paparazzi?