The Real Reason Bush Calls Gonzales “Fredo”

I’m amazed that Matthew Yglesias and Ezra Klein are only now hearing that Bush’s nickname for Gonzales is “Fredo”, but no doubt there are hundreds of things they think are common knowledge that I’ve never heard of. The important question is, of course, what meaning this Godfather reference has.

My theory is that the explanation is simple: there is no Godfather reference. Bush simply thought in the early days of their relationship that the man’s name was Alfredo, not Alberto (and perhaps he still thinks so). Mystery solved!