AG Gonzales will speak at AEI next Wednesday on judicial philosophy and the judicial selection process. An informed observer finds this “very curious”:

When is the last time General Gonzales delivered a high-profile speech on judicial selection? Harriet Miers has just begun packing her bags, and, suddenly, the General emerges to articulate the Administration’s judicial selection plan. Is the General trying to suggest that he is the center of gravity for judicial selection and vetting in the post-Miers world? Is he trying to take the credit for whatever good judicial conservative picks have occurred or are about to occur over the next several weeks? Without a new White House Counsel yet in place, one has to wonder what signal is being sent about that office’s future role in the process. We’ll just have to wait and see what the speech says. But the timing is certainly more than a bit awkward.