Poor Alberto

Guess servile ass-kissing doesn't get you as far as it used to. NYTimes (04.13.08):

"Alberto R. Gonzales, like many others recently unemployed, has discovered how difficult it can be to find a new job. Mr. Gonzales, the former attorney general, who was forced to resign last year, has been unable to interest law firms in adding his name to their roster, Washington lawyers and his associates said in recent interviews.

He has, through friends, put out inquiries, they said, and has not found any takers."

In Job Search, Gonzales Sees No Takers

Ouch. This hurts. "'Maybe the passage of time will provide some opportunity for him,' said one Washington lawyer who was aware of an inquiry to his firm from a Gonzales associate."

According to that lawyer ("who asked his name not be used because the situation being described was uncomfortable for Mr. Gonzales"), Alberto's inquiry wasn't "rebuffed" it was just "not taken up". As in they ignored him.

In the meantime, Alberto is making a living on the lecture circuit, though not without some controversy. "His first speech at the University of Florida last November was interrupted by protesters dressed as detainees."

Another Loyal Bushie

An idiot wind. Blowing every time he moved his mouth. Washington Post (04.13.08), via Calculated Risk:

"In late 2006, as economists warned of an imminent housing market collapse, housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson repeatedly insisted that the mounting wave of mortgage failures was a short-term 'correction.'

He pushed for legislation that would make it easier for federally backed lenders to make mortgage loans to risky borrowers who put less money down. He issued a rule that was criticized by law enforcement authorities because it could increase the difficulty of detecting and proving mortgage fraud.

HUD Chief Inattentive To Crisis, Critics Say

"As Jackson leaves office this week, much of the attention on his tenure has been focused on investigations into whether his agency directed housing contracts to his friends and political allies."

Come now! Alphonso wasn't just an obsequiously venal ideologue. He was also a first-class moron. "(C)ritics say an equally significant legacy of his four years as the nation's top housing officer was gross inattention to the looming housing crisis."

During Alphonso's tenure, "foreclosures for loans insured by HUD's Federal Housing Administration (FHA) have risen and default rates have hit a record high."

"All the while, Jackson enjoyed a chef and a full-time security detail that trailed him to Washington social events. His office launched a new $7 million auditorium and cafeteria at HUD's headquarters, money that some within the agency believed should have been directed toward housing for the poor."

He also charged you taxpayers $100,000 "to obtain oil portraits of Jackson and four other HUD secretaries".