Alberto Gonzales: The Killdeer Strategy

Photo by John Eaton

The killdeer is best known for its acting ability. The parent (Gonzales) will pretend to have a broken wing to lure intruders (congress, the press, the American people) away from its nest (Karl Rove, Dick Cheney and George Bush).

On Bill Moyers Journal, John Stewart points out that Gonzales is willing to look like a "pinhead" on national TV in order to protect Bush. He compares Gonzales to the mafioso who shows loyalty by "giving up nothing" after being arrested:

And "you went up there and said nothing. You gave them no legal recourse against you, and you made yourself a smart man, a self-made man look like an utter pinhead on national television, and you did it for me."

But Gonzales is also the decoy. He focuses attention on himself because he is willing to look vulnerable, easy prey - like the killdeer in the photo above. The same killdeer is pictured below.