I'm devastated by the news John Ashcroft is leaving. Do you think we'll see tits on statues in Washington once more?
- Molly Ivins, The Progressive, December 2004 edition.

John Ashcroft, singer/composer of Let the Eagle Soar and the worst Attorney-General in US history, is quitting while he is ahead. But the man who turned the word Patriot into an Acronym of Evil may well be surpassed by his successor. Judge Alberto Gonzales, currently Counsel to the President, will be the next Attorney-General.

Presidential appointments have historically been riddled with Jobs For The Boys (or Girls, but more about that later), but AG the A-G's background has GWB Mate written all over it. He was even Texas Secretary for State for a while under Governor Dubya.

AG's philosophies fit firmly into the Bush Inner Circle, making him an able successor to Ashcroft. Notably, he took it on himself to decide that parts of the Geneva Conventions were obsolete in the "War on Terror". (Here is a PDF file of the four-page memo in which he made this decision.) While Texan Secretary of State, he advised Governor Bush that he could disregard the Vienna Convention relating to the arrest and detention of foreign nationals because, even though the USA had ratified the convention, the state of Texas had not. (See this Slate article of June 2004.)

AG has a great track record behind him, as documented by the Center for American Progress. Yes, the spectre of Enron is present too.

Molly Ivins has plenty to say about Ashcroft in the abovementioned piece for The Progressive, and in her syndicated newspaper column published last Sunday.

Other dominoes have fallen as the second GWB administration starts to take shape. Tuesday's edition of Democracy Now! examined the legacies of outgoing Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, and Education Secretary Rod Paige.

One other departure from Maison Bush was expected - Colin Powell, the mannered dove among the feral hawks. It's also little surprise that the job of Secretary of State has become a Job For The Girls - to be precise, national security adviser and former Chevron board member Condoleeza Rice. Not so much a GWB Mate as a GWB Sycophant.

Also on the way out is Commerce Secretary Donald Evans. Oh, and I've just learned that Al Gonzales has been replaced as GWB's Counsel by another Texan crony, former chairperson of the Texas Lottery Commission Harriet Miers.