His Hispanicness.(The Week ...)

LAST November, George Stephanopoulos suggested that Bush's then-rumored attorney-general pick, Alberto Gonzales, would bring about a "change in tone" because a Hispanic son of immigrants would have to be more conciliatory than mean old John Ashcroft. Looks like Steph was right. According to the ACLU's talking points, Alberto Gonzales is "a welcome and constructive change." At the recent hearings on the reauthorization of the Patriot Act, Sen. Richard Durbin (D., Ill.) exclaimed, "I am heartened by your opening statement, Attorney General, about being open to suggestions and ideas. It is a grand departure from your predecessor, and I think it is the right spirit ..." Sen. Russell Feingold (D., Wis.), who not long ago claimed the Patriot Act had made Americans "afraid to read books, terrified into silence," agreed. "This is a departure from what we've heard before. It's a good start," he said, adding, "I hope we can have a productive dialogue that has been missing for so long."

Now much of this can be chalked up to Gonzales's more conciliatory style of getting things done. If making nice with the ACLU and entering constructive dialogue with Russ Feingold gets the Patriot Act renewed, fine. But it's hard to shake the feeling that the attorney general is "growing" just a bit too much. Full disclosure: My wife works for Gonzales as a speechwriter, as she did for John Ashcroft. Which is why, on some cool, still mornings, if you listen very carefully you can hear the rustling of the pages of the Washington Post and then hear me yell, "What the hell is your boss doing?!"

Part of the problem is that while Gonzales was perfectly qualified for the job of attorney ...