Months in making, AG Gonzales resigns

If Alberto Gonzales had stepped down in February, no one would have been surprised. But he refused and President Bush backed him, which makes today's announcement quite the about-face. The Lede puts it this way:

The resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, reported this morning in The Times, appears to have achieved the distinction of being both highly expected and, somehow, not expected all.

Once Bush's golden boy behind Karl Rove, Gonzales had fallen out of favor with what seems like every American outside the Executive Branch.

Religion never played as prominent a role in Gonzales' political behavior as it did in that of his predecessor, John Ashcroft. And I'd say that was a good thing.