Vote on Gonzales won't affect Bush

The White House on Sunday dismissed Senate plans to hold a no-confidence vote on the attorney general and said the outcome will not undermine President Bush's resolve to keep Alberto Gonzales at the Justice Department.

"Not a bit. Purely symbolic vote," presidential spokesman Tony Snow said. He was asked in a broadcast interview whether Bush might reconsider his decision to support Gonzales should a sizable number of Republican senators vote for the no-confidence resolution.

"It is perfectly obvious that the president has the right to hire and fire people who serve at his pleasure," Snow said.

Today, the Senate planned to debate the one-sentence measure that declares Gonzales "no longer holds the confidence of the Senate and of the American people."

The vote follows months of investigations and the disclosure of internal Justice Department documents that contradicted Gonzales' initial assertions that the firing of federal prosecutors was not politically motivated or directly coordinated with the White House.

San Antonio

Born-again Colson addresses pastors

Watergate figure Chuck Colson warned a gathering of Southern Baptist pastors Sunday night against what he described as two dire threats: the deadly marriage of Islam and fascism and a new, militant atheism growing in the West.

Colson, a former Nixon "hatchet man" who became a born-again Christian and founded an evangelical ministry to prisoners, spoke at a conference that precedes the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, which begins Tuesday.

"Islamo-fascism is evil incarnate," he said. "Islamists are very different. We will die for what we believe. They will kill for what they believe."

Comments about Islam have generated controversy at past Southern Baptist meetings. In 2002, a former Southern Baptist Convention president, the Rev. Jerry Vines, called the prophet Muhammad a "demon-possessed pedophile."

The second threat, Colson said, was evident in the popularity of several best-selling books espousing atheism by Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and others. "This is a virulent strain of atheism which seeks to destroy our belief system," Colson said.

New York

Lauder to head Jewish Congress

A cosmetics magnate and former U.S. ambassador was elected Sunday as president of the World Jewish Congress, which has led the campaign to win millions of dollars in restitution from Swiss banks holding the assets of Holocaust victims.

Ronald Lauder succeeds billionaire businessman Edgar Bronfman Sr., who quit after 28 years in the post.

Lauder, 63, is the son of Estee Lauder and was chairman of Clinique Laboratories. He's also a former U.S. ambassador to Austria.

Founded in 1936, the World Jewish Congress is well-known for fighting anti-Semitism and lobbying to allow the Jews of the Soviet Union to emigrate.

Seattle Times news services