That Gonzo knows to much about too many things and that Bush cannot risk Gonzo going off the reservation is obviously the reason he cannot in any way afford to alienate Gonzo.

Rove's theory is that if a Bush appointee screws up, then promote him or her and it will tend to keep the others feeling safe and quiet. Most of the appointees that Bush let's go, e.g., Brownie, know little to harm Buish or Rove with.

Yet remember, Tenet, Bremer and other received presidential medals for keeping their trap shut and that is how Rove keeps most of them in order. If they go off the reservation the right wings attacks them like rabid dogs.

From a former Niagara Falls city councilman who now covers Detroit for Fox2 News:

The attorney general of the United States is the poster child for lawlessness. This child of Mexican immigrants is a serial felon. He has approved of torture and secret prisons, asserted that the president has the authority to do anything in the name of national security, rejected the Geneva Conventions and international law, created rogue military tribunals, denied habeas corpus and legal counsel for detainees not charged with specific crimes, and authorized illegal wiretaps and eavesdropping on millions of Americans.

His lesser felonies include repeated acts of perjury, destroying evidence and obstruction of justice. Richard Nixon's attorney general, John Mitchell -- who approved the Watergate break-in, helped cover up the crime and did a prison stretch for his vile deeds -- was a model of probity compared to Gonzales.

What Nixon, Mitchell and their co-conspirators and fellow felons did brought great harm to our republic. But our national resilience overcame the nightmare. What President George W. Bush and Gonzales have done requires nothing short of a political exorcism. In a nation built on the rule of law, they are the bedmates of Beelzebub.

My analysis:  Here's where misplaced loyalty (to person, rather than impersonal principle- the Admin's syndrome) becomes (and has become) The Fatal Flaw.  They will do what they know - stick together, and stick to and with each other.  Digging in their heels will only make things worse.  I suspect that if Gonzo is not gone by this time next week (and I'm being generous) some Senator - maybe a Rethug up for re-election in a bluing state - will ask why the House has not started impeachment proceedings against Gonzo.  That will be "Katie bar the door" time.