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When it comes to outgoing Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, it seems some Hispanics groups don't want to admit they made a mistake. Gonzales was living a high-powered version of the American dream thanks, in part, to major Latino organizations that backed his nomination in late 2004.

But his tumultuous tenure — his resignation, announced Monday, takes effect Sept. 17 — is being treated like a nightmare by many Latinos. They'd rather forget that he exists and that they supported his nomination.

In essence, they're refusing to take a mulligan, which is the golf term for a do-over. If a golfer sends a tee shot 50 yards off the fairway, he takes a mulligan and hits another tee shot. The key here is that the golfer essentially admits that he's made a huge mistake that can't be remedied. He recognizes his error and moves on.

Leading Hispanic groups, however, are shying away from admitting they might have been wrong to support Gonzales. He has become radioactive, and no one wants to touch him with a 10-foot piñata stick.

Calls we made to the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, and the National Council of La Raza seeking comment about Gonzales' resignation were not returned. The Tucson chapter of Chicanos por la Causa also didn't return a call.

A person who answered the phone at LULAC's San Antonio office said, "I wouldn't expect that we're going to comment on that."

LULAC, La Raza, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials and the Association for the Advancement of Mexican Americans all supported Gonzales' nomination.

It seems they all regret their endorsements.

"I have to say we were in error when we supported him to begin with," Brent Wilkes, executive director of LULAC, told The Washington Post this week. "We hoped for better. Instead, it looks like he's done the bidding of the White House."

La Raza also talked with a Washington Post reporter.

However, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials and the Association for the Advancement of Mexican Americans both declined to discuss Gonzales with the Post.

For the record, we editorialized in opposition to Gonzales' nomination in January 2005. We wrote: "Gonzales' ethnicity, his accomplishments and his role as adviser to the president for nine years are admirable but irrelevant. His background makes for great political theater but does not qualify him to be attorney general. And one would hope that Hispanics would not rush to blindly support a man who is clearly wrong for the job."

Gonzales was later confirmed by the Senate 60-36 and became the highest-ranking Hispanic Cabinet member in history.

Latinos, understandably, were enthusiastic that one of their own would have the president's ear on a daily basis.

But instead of championing Hispanic causes, Gonzales became infamous for, among other things, working to expand the government's wiretapping powers, supporting harsh interrogation techniques of suspects in the war on terror and firing nine U.S. attorneys in December for what many call purely political reasons.

Hispanics and many others, including President Bush, were inspired by Gonzales' rags-to-riches story. The son of farmworkers, he went to college, then to Harvard Law School and, eventually, to the halls of power in Washington.

"He had great potential. But he certainly didn't make us proud. He certainly didn't make me proud," Cordelia Candelaria, an associate dean and professor in the Chicana/Chicano studies department at Arizona State University, told the Arizona Republic this week.

Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., said in a press release Monday: "The resignation of Attorney General Gonzales is long overdue. Attorney General Gonzales long ago lost the confidence of the people of this nation due to the rampant politicization of federal law enforcement that occurred under his tenure."

Like Candelaria and Grijalva, major Hispanic groups should also talk about Gonzales. If they supported him, it would be more constructive to talk about why they did so and not hide behind a veil of silence.

There's nothing wrong with Hispanic groups admitting they might have been wrong. There's nothing wrong with taking a mulligan.