Removing Chertoff from consideration without a fight is uncharacteristic of Bush, and is designed to force the Democrats to cave yet again; to give Bush what he wants while weakly claiming victory. And what Bush wants is unparalled, unmitigated power such as that proposed by former Ashcroft deputy assistant John Yoo -- the power to wiretap US citizens, the freedom to torture not only terrorist suspects, but their children as well, and to declare war anytime, anywhere, on anyone.

Fortunately, Yoo, currently a professor of law at the University of California, Berkeley, is radioactive, but we can look for former solicitor general Theodore (Ted) Olson to be at the top of Bush's list. Olson was part of the Paula Jones legal team in her case against President Bill Clinton, and was deeply involved in Kenneth Starr's Richard Mellon Scaife-funded Swiftboat investigation of Whitewater. Olson also personally represented Bush in the 2000 election coup in Florida.

Olson almost makes Gonzales look good. He is campaigning for Rudy Giuliani in 2008, and is the chairman of Giuliani’s Justice Advisory Committee. In a recent National Review article entitled, "Two for the Price of One: The presidency and the judiciary," Olson openly admitted his goal is to stack the courts with "jurists in the mold of Justices Scalia, Thomas and Alito and Chief Justices Rehnquist and Roberts," and Giuliani is the guy who will do just that.

And then there's Judge Laurence (Scary Larry) Silberman. Should his name pop up for confirmation, I'll wager the Democrats won't remember, or will hope we don't remember that Silberman is the Reagan campaign operative who worked behind the scenes with Iran's Khomeini regime to successfully delay release of American hostages until after the 1980 election.

Silberman's reward was a seat on the powerful right-wing U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, where he was instrumental in changing the course of history by intervening in the Iran-Contra scandal. Investigative journalist Martin McLaughlin writes that Silberman's "most important decision on the Court of Appeals came in the case of Lt. Col. Oliver North, the principal figure in the Iran-Contra affair. Silberman and fellow justice David Sentelle, a former aide to arch-right-wing Republican Senator Jesse Helms, voided the convictions of both North and Admiral John Poindexter in 1990. Their intervention played a key role in sabotaging the investigation by Iran-Contra special prosecutor Lawrence Walsh."

The Democrats may discover that confirming a new attorney general is not as easy as ABC. We could go on through the alphabet and find other candidates, such as Poppy's Deputy Attorney General George Terwilliger, the leader of the Bush-Cheney coup team during the Florida recount, or former Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson, who left government service shortly after the Iraq invasion for a saner position at the helm of PepsiCo.

It's likely Bush won't be able to resist ramming a political firecracker in the mouths of Democrats just to see their heads explode by nominating Connecticut donkey Sen. Joe Lieberman, who has spent the last six years selling his soul to prove to Bush he's a team player who really really wants to be attorney general. Democrats would be forced to reject the totally unacceptable Lieberman, or accept him and split the Senate down the middle while Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell appoints a Republican to replace him.

Nothing will change with Gonzales' departure, because each candidate on Bush's attorney general list is Gonzo "squared" -- each one committed to do the Gonzo Boogie from now until January 2009. Until then, the Democrats will continue to struggle with their attention-deficit disorder (ADD), and the American people will sink deeper into the morass of national post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

And Bush? It's been a hell of a ride. So exciting that Bush has decided to keep "surging" and "kicking ass" until his job is done, and then he says the next president can clean up the body parts 'cause he's gonna go out and give speeches and make lots of money like Poppy and Bubba...

Sheila Samples is an Oklahoma writer and a former civilian US Army Public Information Officer. She is a regular contributor for a variety of Internet sites. Contact her at rsamples@sirinet.net

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