In response to our editorial today on Gonzales, Ed Whelan agrees and disagrees over in Bench Memos.

A reader issues a blanket temperment statement:

One of the things I find most dissapointing about you (specifically) and your cohorts is your constant surrender in the face of difficulties.
The Democrats never give up. They never concede. They have to be absolutely defeated, and even then they gather their strength to try again.
(For an example, look no further than the Clintons, Al Gore,… )
You and your ilk (I never thought I would get a chance to use that phrase) surrender at the first whiff of controversy. You give up (or more to the
point) advocate giving up without making the opponent fight for his win. To paraphrase my grandson, what a bunch of wimps. Is this what being a conservative means?