Pace, Iran and Gonzo trifecta

Will Bunch at Attytood has a frightening take on the replacement of Peter Pace as head of the Joint Chiefs on Friday. He wonders whether Pace's refusal to tow the neocon line on the Iranian government's meddling in Iraq may have led to his dismissal. Clearly, it doesn't seem to be any secret that Pace was unwilling to go along with the preemptive action against Tehran:

One intelligence source told me that Joint Chiefs chairman, Gen. Peter Pace, has explored the possibility of resigning if Bush presses forward with air attacks against Iran, a war strategy that might be done in coordination with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

If this is the case, and if this is part of a coordinated effort to saber rattle on the Sunday talk shows at that same time (as Joe Lieberman was happy to do this weekend), then we really have entered a scary place. The Bush administration seems to be more determined to act radically and unilaterally the lower their approval rating goes. As one after another Bush insider leaps for safety (Dan Bartlett last week), the small group of dead enders that remain loyal to him dig in even deeper. You could see the blood dripping from Bill Kristol's fangs on Fox News yesterday as he reiterated his call for the invasion of Iran.

The Gonzales no confidence debate illustrates this nicely. First, it exposes the ridiculousness of the administration's line on Pace's firing. Namely, their excuse that Pace's continued service would lead to a nasty reconfirmation hearing is flatly contradicted by their willingness to go down to the mat with Gonzo. Secondly, Bush's response to the Gonzo debate is telling. He called the process "meaningless" and announced that

They can have their votes of no confidence, but it's not going to make the determination about who serves in my government,

The vote may have been symbolic, or non binding, or toothless, but one thing that it cannot be is meaningless. I'm not trying to be Bill Safire, but if the vote had anything, it had meaning. If a majority of the United States Senate including eight members of your own party tell you that they believe that the highest ranking law officer in the country is a dog with fleas, there is meaning in that vote. Only a man who could so casually dismiss the process as an infringement on "his government" could consider it thus.