Ever-alert Blawgletter readers know that the President nicknamed his Attorney General "Fredo" — as in Frederico "Fredo" Corleone. Signs of the cinematic Fredo’s weaknesses included fumbling his gat after minions of Virgil Sollozzo gunned down his father; mockery by his wife, Deanna, at a party; sycophancy towards Las Vegas gangster and Corleone rival Moe Green; and betrayal of his younger brother Michael to wise guys Johnny Ola and Hyman Roth, who almost succeeded in assassinating Michael.
Blawgletter once wondered why the President would bestow an insulting sobriquet on a friend and, more, why the friend would acquiesce. Then along came the brou-ha-ha-ha-ha over the firing of seven U.S. Attorneys. We wonder no more.
But let us note one difference between the fictional Fredo and the one preparing to testify before the Senate on Tuesday. Fredo Corleone betrayed his fraternal boss incompetently but on purpose. The AG, by contrast, expresses his weakness by doing whatever he thinks his boss wants. Our Fredo’s betrayal strikes not at the President but at us.
Barry Barnett
