The housecleaning begins

Well, he's gone. In a letter written last week and released today, Attorney General John Ashcroft says his "energies and talents should be directed toward other challenging horizons," like packing up cardboard boxes and hauling them out of the Justice Department. Oh, and trying to up his election record against dead opponents to 1-1. Now let's hope President Bush doesn't pick an Ashcroft clone as the new AG, or do something crazy like nominate Ashcroft for the Supreme Court.

Oh, yeah, the "commerce secretary" apparently resigned, too, but I'm still trying to confirm that that job actually exists.