Update: Bush Live Statement: (Not a transcript, just live-blogging.)

Al Gonzales is a man of integrity, decency and principle. I have reluctantly accepted his resignation with appreciation for his service. He has played a critical role in the war on terror, in developing the Patriot Act and the Military Commissions Act. He made enforcement of civil rights laws a top priority. He did great on child sex crimes and in fighting corruption. He played a leading role in selecting Justices Alito and Roberts.

He has become a close friend. He and his family have sacrificed.

After months of unfair treatment, he has decided to resign. It's sad when someone like Gonzales is prevented from doing good work because his good name has been dragged through the mud for political purposes.

Solicitor General Paul Clement will serve as acting AG until a replacement is named and confirmed.

No questions taken. More...

Live Update: Michael Vick Statement. For most of his life he's been a football player, not a public speaker. He wants to speak from the heart. He wants to apologize for all the things he's done and allowed to happen. Apologizes to the Commissioner and other team people. He was not honest in his previous statements to them. He was ashamed and disappointed in himself.

He apologizes to young kids out there for his immature acts. What he did was very immature, he needs to grow up.

Asks for forgiveness and understanding as he moves forward to better Michael Vick the person, not the football player.

He was irresponsible and those things didn't need to happen. He blames no one else. He had bad judgment and made bad decisions. Dog fighting is a terrible thing. Through this situation he has found Jesus and has asked for his forgiveness.

More...

We'll be updating reactions to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' resignation as the day goes on. Gonzales' last day will be September 15.

Update: Democratic candidates weigh in.

Update: Charles Schumer's live statement: Touts himself three times for first calling for Gonzales' resignation. Who cares? Says the Justice Department has been in complete disarray. As I've said many times, that's just not the case. Life has gone on as usual in courtrooms all across America. Insists on a replacement that "will uphold the rule of law." A platitude. Says Dems will work with the White House on a replacement, urges them to seek out Dems' advice.

John Edwards: (live interview on CNN)Doesnt' think Chertoff should be the replacement. "We shouldn't replace the person responsible for Guantanamo with the person responsible for the aftermath of Katrina."

Harry Reid: Was never the right man for the job.... He lacked the spine to say no to Karl Rove.

More...

Update (TL): Gonzales will make a statement at 10:30 am ET, I'll live blog it in a new thread. Bush is also expected to make a statement, and CNN says he will not be naming a replacement today. CNN says Chertoff is the favorite for ultimate replacement, also naming Paul Clement.

*****

He finally did something right:

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, whose tenure has been marred by controversy and accusations of perjury before Congress, has resigned. A senior administration official said he would announce the decision later this morning in Washington.

I'm sure J. and TChris will have thoughts later.

Football on NBC tonight cut into Keith Olbermann's debut of Countdown on NBC in many parts of the country. In Denver, the network joined the show in progress at 9:30 pm, after the game.

I did get to see the "Worst Person of the World" segment, which was very good. If you missed it, Crooks and Liars has the video. From the transcript:

Limbaugh: “…..Democrats want to get us out of Iraq, but they can’t wait to get us into Darfur.” He continued: “There are two reasons. What color is the skin of the people in Darfur? It’s black. And who do the Democrats really need to keep voting for them? If they lose a significant percentage of this voting bloc, they’re in trouble.” A caller responded, “The black population,” to which Limbaugh said, “Right.”

Robert Sillen, court-appointed health-care receiver for California's plagued prisons has been making waves and progress.

So far $1.3 billion has been spent on improving health care.

He has the power to hire, fire, raise salaries, build facilities, waive laws, tap the state treasury and have jailed any bureaucrat who tries to thwart him.....

....“When people ask me how long and how much,” he said, “I have a stock answer: Long. Much.”

Not previously familiar with the criminal justice system, it sounds like Sillen has gotten a crash course.

More...

Matt Yglesias has a great post on how historically ignorant Broderism and its drive for a compromise, issueless pragmatism is. As Yglesais shows, Whiggery led to to the rise of an ideological partisan Third Party - the Republican Party of Abraham Lincoln:

I feel like it's worth mentioning here how little time third party enthusiasts ever seem to spend thinking about the rise of the Republican Party -- the only actual precedent for anything of the sort. They often seem to talk as if Abraham Lincoln was just some kind of somewhat disaffected dude sitting around somewhere with this really insightful speech about a how divided against itself, threw his hat in the ring, and -- bam! -- tired old Whig and Democrat ideologies are shunted aside in favor of a bold new era of pragmatism and bloody civil war. One can't do justice to the actual origins of the Republican Party in a blog post, but suffice it to say that it didn't work like that. The history of meaningful third party anti-slavery politics goes back to the abolitionists' Liberty Party in 1840. They later moderated their agenda somewhat, added the support of many breakaway anti-slavery Democrats, and became the Free Soil Party starting in 1848. This party had some very substantial adherents, but still didn't do very well. Then, as the national debate over slavery grew ever-more-intense, breakaway anti-slavery Whigs joined the movement that was now further reconfigured as the Republican Party. This new party did well enough to become a "second party," polling 33 percent while the Whigs got just 21.5 percent.

Matt has written a great concise post that does not, obviously, delve into the complete history of the rise of the Republican Party and the demise of the Whig Party, but I want to explore how Broderism was at the heart of the demise of the Whig Party. To wit, Broder has it backwards - his approach killed a dominant political party and led to an NON-Unity, partisan third party. I'll explore this history on the flip.

Detroit lawyer Geoffrey Fieger was indicted on Friday, in large part for allegedly conspiring to make illegal campaign contributions to John Edwards.

Geoffrey Fieger, the Southfield lawyer known for winning multimillion-dollar civil judgments and antagonizing judges, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on criminal charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, making illegal campaign contributions and causing false statements.

The indictment charges Fieger and a law partner, Vernon (Ven) Johnson, of conspiring to make about $127,000 in illegal contributions to Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards' 2004 campaign.

Famed lawyer Gerry Spence will defend Fieger:

More...

Newsweek's Evan Thomas writes a 15 page online article on why we haven't found Osama bin Laden. A few snippets:

Rather than send the snake eaters to poke around mountain caves and mud-walled compounds, the U.S. military wanted to fight on a grander stage, where it could show off its mobility and firepower. To the civilian bosses at the Pentagon and the eager-to-please top brass, Iraq was a much better target.

By invading Iraq, the United States would give the Islamists—and the wider world—an unforgettable lesson in American power. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was on Rumsfeld's Defense Policy Board and, at the time, a close confidant of the SecDef. In November 2001, Gingrich told a NEWSWEEK reporter, "There's a feeling we've got to do something that counts—and bombing caves is not something that counts."

Others say intelligence dried up long ago and the U.S. is just searching for a needle in a haystack, and the chance of success is "zero." Yet, without any intelligence on the whereabouts of Osama or what he's up to, experts quoted in the article maintain:

More...

U.S. News & World Report writes:

The buzz among top Bushies is that beleaguered Attorney General Alberto Gonzales finally plans to depart and will be replaced by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. Why Chertoff? Officials say he's got fans on Capitol Hill, is untouched by the Justice prosecutor scandal, and has more experience than Gonzales did, having served as a federal judge and assistant attorney general.

[Hat tip: Think Progress.]

Chertoff was a federal judge and U.S. Attorney before becoming Homeland Security Secretary. In 2005, the ACLU issued this report on Chertoff and his civil liberties record, and it wasn't pretty. More from a coalition of civil liberties organizations is here.

Guess who was the sole vote against Chertoff's confirmation? Hillary Clinton.

The New York Times today reports that the Albany terror trial of Yassin M. Aref may have the best chance of challenging the NSA warrantless wiretapping program.

TalkLeft has been writing about Mr. Aref's case since its inception in 2004 (see here) and about its NSA wiretapping connection since Aref's lawyer, Terry Kindlon, filed his first challenge to the program. Aref's case was the Ashcroft-initiated prosecution of the pizza man and the Iman.

From Terry's initial motion:

"The government engaged in illegal electronic surveillance of thousands of U.S. persons, including Yassin Aref, then instigated a sting operation to attempt to entrap Mr. Aref into supporting a nonexistent terrorist plot, then dared to claim that the illegal NSA operation was justified because it was the only way to catch Mr. Aref," Kindlon's motion said.

The Judge denied the motion in a secret ruling. Terry then went to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals asking it to compel the District Court to direct the government to come clean about the role warrantless wiretaps played in its case. He got no relief.

The Government used the "Doogie Howser" of terrorism experts at trial and Aref and his codefendant were convicted. Even though Aref's sentencing guidelines were 30 years to life, the Judge sentenced him to 15 years. Even the Judge didn't believe Aref was motivated by a desire to help terrorists.

More...

Brian Baird opposed the war and the Surge. Michael O'Hanlon supported the war and the Surge. Michael O'Hanlon is dishonest. Brian Baird is wrong. Here is Baird's argument:

He ignores the fact that political solutions are nonexistent in Iraq. He has no real information nor real answers. He says six more months. What he expects to happen in six months is not clear. In short, Baird has no actual argument. But give Baird his due, he is not lying when he says he was a war and Surge critic. Michael O'Hanlon IS lying when he says he was an Iraq war and Surge critic. One argument merits respect. It is not the one made by the dishonest Michael O'Hanlon.