This article was helpful in clarifying the options available to the Democrats if they wanted to hamstring Gonzalez. I had assumed that this administration's expansion and abuse of executive privilege in order to withhold information was simply keeping Gonzalez off limits for any effective prosecution.

That being said, I'm not sure that you can reduce the vote to expand wiretapping powers to a "yea" or "nay" referendum on Gonzalez or his competency. The Democrats are trying hard to appear tough on national security issues. Refusing to grant the authority the President demanded could have had detrimental effects in that regard for upcoming campaigns.

It IS a very ironic turn of events, to be sure. I was a resident of Texas during Bush's tenure and I had no use for Gonzalez then. I wonder if the "loyalty" so often attributed to George W. is also seasoned with a heavy dose of "inability to admit mistakes, EVER."