I've been on the road the past day and not paying much attention to post-Rove Washington. Is the air a little cleaner? Is there less humidity?

His departure was well-timed with the cover of the current Economist, which asks, Is America turning left? The answer: yes, in some ways that are, for the Economist editors, a wee bit worrisome (though those editors do make sure to note they are no fans of a Republican Party held hostage to social conservatives). But the lead editorial has a wonderful line. The article notes that even if the U.S. is moving leftward on social issues (like health care) and trade matters, it still is far to the right of European nations run by conservatives, such as France and Germany. To reinforce this point, the edit notes that Hillary Clinton "mentions God more often than the average European bishop." Well put.

By the way, that The Economist could even ask this question shows how far short Rove fell of his goal to engineer a strategic and permanent realignment in American politics. The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray--especially when they (the men, that is) start stupid wars.

GIVING HIM THE ROPE. My assistant Matthew Blake, who remains in Washington, reports:

Members of Congress say they want Attorney General Alberto Gonzales out, with even Republicans calling him "not credible." But the heated rhetoric contradicts the extraordinary power that Congress has handed Gonzales.

The Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday that Gonzales is "putting the final touches" on implementing a "little-noticed provision in last year's reauthorization of the Patriot Act" that allows the attorney general's office to "fast-track" death penalty cases.

What speeding up executions has to do with protecting the United States from terrorists was never covered in the debate over the law's reauthorization, but the Times explains that last year's Patriot Act: Part II permits Gonzales to overrule a federal judge's evaluation on whether a defendant in a death penalty case was fairly represented. Once the attorney general decides the defendant had adequate counsel he can reduce the amount of time a death row inmate has to file a federal appeal from a year to six months.

The provision will quicken executions but provides no standards for evaluating whether a defendant had been adequately defended. Instead Gonzales will have the discretion to determine that. (When Gonzales was Bush's top legal adviser in Texas, he and Bush did little, if anything, to ensure death row inmates had received adequate counsel.)

It was another "little-noticed provision" in the second Patriot Act that allowed Gonzales to fire U.S. attorney Bud Cummins and replace him with Tim Griffin (a Rove crony) without Griffin having to be confirmed by the Senate.

When the second Patriot Act was before a GOP-controlled Congress, most Senate Democrats went along, and the bill passed in the Senate by a 95-4 vote. And last week, the Democratic-controlled Congress decided it trusted the attorney general to approve wiretapping conversations without federal court oversight.

Over the past year, Democrats in Congress have presented a more-than-convincing case that Gonzales has abused his power as attorney general. But many Democrats in the House and Senate have been his enabler.

Warning: blogging will be intermittent this week and next.

Posted by David Corn at August 15, 2007 04:10 PM