Gonzales Confirmation: Reply from Senator Cantwell

[gottaB]

I emailed Senator Maria Cantwell asking that she oppose Gonzales because he promoted torture.

This is the essence of the reply I recieved:

Dear Mr. B,

Thank you for contacting me regarding the nomination of Justice Alberto Gonzales to the position of Attorney General of the United States. I appreciate hearing your views on this issue.

As you may know, the President nominates individuals to serve in his cabinet and it is the responsibility of the Senate to advise and consent on the suitability of those individuals to serve in the particular cabinet position for which they have been nominated. I intend to carefully observe and review the confirmation hearings and study the Judge Gonzales' record before arriving at my judgment. Primarily, I will seek to assess whether the nominee will enforce the laws of our nation in a balanced and fair manner.

I take my Constitutional responsibility as a Senator to advise and consent on executive nominations extremely seriously. While I recognize the privilege of the President to select his nominees, I believe it is critical that we conduct a comprehensive evaluation of each nominee's qualifications. Be assured that I am committed to making carefully considered and independent judgments on every nominee based on a thorough review of his or her records. I will also continue to fight to protect reproductive rights and ensure that our nation's civil rights and environmental laws are fully and adequately enforced.

....

Sincerely,

Maria Cantwell
United States Senator

I'm no expert at reading between the lines, but it seems like we citizens need to step up here and make some noise. How would you evaluate Gonzales' qualifications?

Please contact your Senators and let them know your views: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

More info about opposing Gonzales: http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=17596

[imenja]

1. you can tell she plans to vote for him

unless forced to do otherwise.

[gottaB]

2. I'm not so sure

Based on her voting record, I would be a little surprised if she didn't take a stand here.

On the other hand, she has not yet committed to opposing him.

I think more public awareness and pressure from citizens can help persuade her and other Senators to firmly oppose Gonzales.

[imenja]

3. yes, and thanks for the link

I just wrote Bill Nelson. Can you believe Mel Martinez doesn't even have an email? I'll have to phone him later.

[gottaB]

4. that's weird, no email for Martinez

Hmm. I wonder if there are any nays on the other side. What do Republicans have to say for themselves?

[tkmorris]

7. Betty Castor would've opposed Gonzales

Martinez on the other hand, will not, no way no how. Any time you spend writing him will be wasted IMHO.

[imenja]

9. They all need to know how we feel.

And Kerry wouldn't have nominated Gonzalez for AG to begin with, but that's not the situation we face now. It only takes a few minutes to write a letter, especially when I can copy more or less the one I sent to Nelson. Obviously I expect he will vote to confirm, and I would be surprised if Nelson didn't as well. I still, however, plan to let them know what I think about the issue.

[calimary]

17. It's SO important that you weigh in. 1 (800) 839 - 5276 - TOLL FREE

to Capitol Hill. You can call your reps, or somebody else's. Just name a name and they'll transfer you.

[gottaB]

21. 1-800-839-5276 -- they will connect you to your Senators

Just called Senator Murray's office. They are keeping score on this.

[IndianaGreen]

12. Yep, Cantwell will vote for Gonzales unless...

there is some new revelation that scuttles his nomination. At least she replies to you, unlike a certain Senator whose name I will not mention.

[gottaB]

19. When I lived in Indiana....

Dick Lugar was very good about replying to my letters. That other fellow, Dan Coats, was not. When I think of a certain Democratic Senator from Indiana, weighing his positives and negatives, I always remember Dan Coats and thank my lucky stars.

[Selatius]

5. Cantwell's voting record

http://www.issues2000.org/Senate/Maria_Cantwell.htm

As far as I can tell, she could vote either way, but it seems she leans to vote against confirming him? Does anyone come to the same conclusion?

On another note, she's a free trader, but that's another arena.

[roenyc]

6. She worded it so she could go either way

Biden said on TV the other day that he wasn't sure how he was going to vote. and that surprised me. because of the love fest during the hearings.

he told the reporter that while he likes Gonzalez he thought he wasn't honest in the hearing (no kidding) or forthcoming and that bothered him. and he said for that reason he is on the fence.

guess torture isn't a big deal if he would have owned up to it. :crazy:

[imenja]

10. why can't he be tried for perjury?

He clearly lied before the Judiciary Committee. How on earth does someone "not recall" soliciting or reading memos on torture? How, after all this press coverage, can he not be able to say what the current White House policy is?
Where is Ken Starr when we need him?

[roenyc]

11. Ken Star is spending all his money he earned from the GOP

i dont think not recall is lying. well we know its lying. but he can have a bad memory. ::roll eyes::

I just hope our people have the good sense to follow their conscience and vote no. but they dont have the majority so i am not sure it matters but it will at least send a message that we dont like you torture boy.

he is not condemning the torture because they intend to continue it.

someone must say stop the madness. because we are going right into another Iran/contra. i feel so sad for what we have done to the Iraqis.

[spanone]

22. Right. Lying is now called 'mis-spoke'. Horseshit, he lied.

[Johnny Noshoes]

8. They will confirm him.

I think they will confrim him because the Senate Democrats have no fight left in them and they are spineless. They'll make excuses and try to cover their asses but those of us paying attention will remember. Those who aren't will keep on shopping, watching "reality TV" and wallowing in mindless entertainment and sports. America is GONE truthseekers.

"We will not walk in fear, one of another. We are not descended from fearful men, not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes which were for the moment unpopular. This is no time . . . to keep silent." - Edward R. Murrow

[roenyc]

13. I am afraid you might be right

I am trying to remember the 80's and we were then immersed in TV and mindless entertainment and cocaine. i was raising kids and working full time.

we just didn't have time to notice that Reagan was raping the country and doing terrible things. democrats hated him but didn't know why.

Those of us in the city saw what crack was doing to the teens. I saw what cocaine was doing to the people i worked with. This was what Reagan did to keep us unaware. to keep us too busy to notice.

John Kerry investigated Iran/contra. i had no idea. too damn busy.

right now most people are doing the same thing. raising kids working full time, trying to make ends meet. trying to keep their kids from growing up to fast. no time to see the truth.

Now the new regime is going to fund this war with heroine. watch the inner city. this is going to be ugly. i hope they have the courage to stop him. we have the history - its up to us, the informed to stop this. cause the rest of the country, is busy.

[sellitman]

16. They will vote him in

Because we have a spineless group of Senators and Representatives who know nothing about fighting about what is right. Goebbels or Himmler could be confirmed if Gonzales is. What a mess we are in folks. Such a sad time to be an American. If I traveled overseas I wouldn't let anyone know where I came from.

Ashamed in America

[mandyky]

14. Did anyone ask him about Enron?

Yes, his part in the torture memos was important, but other parts of his past also make me think he will not act in America and Americans interest over Big Business as well as cowtowing to bush.

[Disturbed]

15. Any Dem that votes for Gonzales..

doesn't deserve to be in Congress. It doesn't matter what their excuses are.

Gonzalez does not believe in the Constitution of the United States.
He does not believe in following the laws of the U.S. regarding Corps.
He is incompetent. Kerik vetted.

[sandnsea]

20. No, Dems can't multitask

The torture memos are reprehensible, but we could also take another hit on the Bush crony capitalism through Gonzales as well. It's not just Enron, it's Halliburton and Texans for Tort Reform (or whatever that group is) as well. Gonzales is a Bush whore, he was recommended to be Bush's Texas counsel by the woman who replaced Gonzales as White House counsel; they're all a bunch of Bush whores. But all we hear about is the torture memos, and a teeny bit about the death penalty briefs. He advocated executing a mentally retarded guy, which even this Supreme Court ruled was unconstitutional. Another failed case of framing issues.

[mandyky]

24. They're something else, aren't they?

Each of our Senators should have questioned him about various issues and not just the two they did.

[Johnny Noshoes]

27. You know

that Chuck the Schmuck Schumer isn't going to ask any tough questions. He just got re-elected without having to face any serious opposition and we in NY are stuck with Chucky boy for 6 more years. This guy is a major disappointment :mad:




"When you trade your values for the hope of winning, you end up losing and having no values....so you keep losing." Howard Dean 2004

[sandnsea]

28. It's not just the Senators n/t

[The Flaming Red Head]

18. Torture Gonzales is a war criminal and so is anyone who votes for him

Now is the time to oppose Hitler, before they put hundreds of thousands of people in those torture camps, by then it’ll be too late.

[Missy Vixen]

23. It's too bad she doesn't take her constituency

seriously. At all.

>I take my Constitutional responsibility as a Senator to advise and consent on executive nominations extremely seriously.<

I can't count the number of times I have called Maria Cantwell's office and been blown off by her staff. It's even more interesting to consider that I am one of her constituents, being a lifelong native of Washington State.

Maria Cantwell seems to be confused as to which party she belongs to. I say we vote her out in the primary, and run a Democrat instead of a scared bunny.

Julie

[gottaB]

25. hope springs eternal?

The issues surrounding the Gonzales nomination really matter to me, so I feel it's worth the effort to make my views known. At this time I figure Cantwell's office has feelers out on this and will record your opposition if you voice it.

I haven't lived here very long, not long enough to be majorly disappointed by Cantwell. I regard this confirmation vote as an essential statement about political values, and will remember it during the next election and for many years to come.

[realFedUp]

26. A vote for Gonzales is a vote for torture

and breaking the laws of this country.

[JetCityLiberal]

29. Thanks for posting this gottaB

My wife and I have both called and e-mailed Senator Murray and Senator Cantwell.

I have not had a response from either yet to our request of a 'no' vote on Gonzales. But I want to congratulate you on getting a response from Senator Cantwell. In the last four years we have never gotten any response from her to our calls or e-mails. Senator Murray always responds to our calls and e-mails and actually returned one of my wife's phone calls (about stopping the closure of veteran's hospitals) herself.

Good for you for being out and active on this and for posting this here. :thumbsup:

We will not let up about this despicable AG nominee.

JetCityLiberal

[gottaB]

32. Senator Murray is wonderful

Nice staff too.

Let's hope we get through to Cantwell and the other undecideds.

:toast:

[maxwall]

30. Same as the one I got after lobbying against Ashcroft...

...Only the name is changed....

[gottaB]

31. She voted against confirming Ashcroft

Maybe it's a standard "leaning against" letter?

Rollcall on Ashcroft: http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&session=1&vote=00008