NYT Calls For DISMISSAL OF Attorney General Alberto Gonzales

[kpete]

Editorial
The Failed Attorney General

Published: March 11, 2007
During the hearing on his nomination as attorney general, Alberto Gonzales said he understood the difference between the job he held — President Bush’s in-house lawyer — and the job he wanted, which was to represent all Americans as their chief law enforcement officer and a key defender of the Constitution. Two years later, it is obvious Mr. Gonzales does not have a clue about the difference.

He has never stopped being consigliere to Mr. Bush’s imperial presidency. If anyone, outside Mr. Bush’s rapidly shrinking circle of enablers, still had doubts about that, the events of last week should have erased them.

.........................

We opposed Mr. Gonzales’s nomination as attorney general. His résumé was weak, centered around producing legal briefs for Mr. Bush that assured him that the law said what he wanted it to say. More than anyone in the administration, except perhaps Vice President Dick Cheney, Mr. Gonzales symbolizes Mr. Bush’s disdain for the separation of powers, civil liberties and the rule of law.

On Thursday, Senator Arlen Specter, the senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, hinted very obliquely that perhaps Mr. Gonzales’s time was up. We’re not going to be oblique. Mr. Bush should dismiss Mr. Gonzales and finally appoint an attorney general who will use the job to enforce the law and defend the Constitution.

more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/11/opinion/11sun1.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

[saltpoint]

1. Chuck Schumer has just called for Gonzales' resignation also.

Bob Schieffer asked Schumer if he thought Gonzales should step down.

I like the trendline on this one a lot.

[valerief]

2. Hold him as an illegal alien and let's see him try to get heard to defend himself against the claim.

[saltpoint]

3. He could be held at Guantanamo for safe keeping and denied the

same access to justice his fellow detainees are denied under his own recommendations.

[valerief]

4. That's the idea. Of course, we'd want to make sure he's not, ahem, tortured. nt

[saltpoint]

6. Yep. Perish the thought.

After all, the United States doesn't do torture.

The president said so!

[sellitman]

5. Send the whole Cabal there.

Why stop at Alberto?

[saltpoint]

7. I'd spare Harriet Miers. I think she's a candidate for leniency.

Besides, she's just recently got that gig as a lounge singer in a dive in El Paso.

You hate to interrupt good work.

[rodeodance]

19. leniency for the Love-stricken. Now that is Compassion:-)

[saltpoint]

22. Hi, rodeodance. Yep. I'm a sucker for a soft story.

[rodeodance]

20. Just thinking------Condi is is love with Bush also. What to do??

[saltpoint]

23. A conundrum to be sure. Either Laura and/or Condi have to

kill themselves in an act of theatrical devotion, or Dubya has to become Mormon and make his move.

[sellitman]

24. You are more lenient than I .

I'd send anyone who has even had a beer with bush or his gang that can't shoot straight.

[saltpoint]

26. Ordinarily I would, too, sellitman, but we need to keep somebody back to

spill the beans on what exactly happened in the White House these last six horrifying years.

It might as well be Harriet Miers. We'll tell her it was her beloved boss' final wish.

(Yes, I'm joshin'. I have no attachment to Harriet Miers & wouldn't want any. Off she goes to Gitmo.)

[Richard Steele]

8. If the Constitution defines our Nation, (and it DOES) then he's clearly an enemy combatant.

If the Constitution defines our Government, (and it DOES), then
he not only "advocates its overthrow", he's actively participating
in a fairly successful attempt to overthrow it. I believe TREASON
is the word for that.

[saltpoint]

9. Hi, dicksteele. I don't know how things will shake out with Abu Gonzales

but he's appalling on such a high number of levels that I just don't try any more to find an objective response to him.

He's a legal timebomb for himself and the Bush administration, and I believe he's a psychological mess besides.

[globalvillage]

10. Dems who voted FOR Gonzales

Landrieu
Lieberman (he was a Dem then)
Nelson
Nelson
Pryor
Salazar

Not voting Baucus, Conrad, Inouye, Burns(R)

Most Dems and Jeffords(I) had the good sense to vote against.

02/03/2005

Statement by John Kerry on the Nomination of Alberto Gonzales for Attorney General


"I will vote against the nomination of Alberto Gonzales for Attorney General. As Counsel to the President he committed grave errors in formulating the administration's detention and interrogation policies which have put American troops in greater danger. American presidents for decades have believed in the Geneva Conventions because they protect American troops captured by the enemy. It's a mistake to choose as our nation's chief law enforcement officer someone who called these protections 'quaint' and opened a Pandora's Box that has tarred America's image in the world and placed our troops at even greater risk.
"Some of America's most distinguished retired military officers share my concerns. General John Shalikashvili, the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; General Joseph Hoar, former Commander-in-Chief of U.S. Central Command; and Lt. General Claudia J. Kennedy, the former deputy Chief of Staff for Army Intelligence, wrote that 'it is clear that these operations have fostered greater animosity toward the United States, undermined our intelligence gathering efforts, and added to the risks facing our troops serving around the world.'

"Judge Gonzales' confirmation hearings were a golden opportunity to reassure the country that as Attorney General he would uphold and enforce laws which for decades have protected our troops and advanced America's interests in foreign policy. Instead he gave evasive answers which raise doubts about his commitment to the rule of law and reflect an unwillingness to exercise independent legal judgment on critical issues.

"It is for these reasons that I will oppose the nomination of Judge Gonzales to serve in that post."
http://kerry.senate.gov/v3/cfm/record.cfm?id=231562

[rodeodance]

21. I am not surprized to see Landrieu on this list---she is an odd duck so often.

[MasonJar]

11. WoW! The NYT does not mince any words in this editorial. It also

has a few cuts on the Stump himself. I hope the whole cabal of lawbreakers are cringing in a corner. I can just picture the WH staff hiding in anterooms this morning with the "moran" railing and cursing up a storm.

[saltpoint]

12. I like your film clip of Dubya railing through the White House, MasonJar.

He might just decide to stay in South America if the news keeps up the way it has.

He's being trashed directly and indirectly on the morning news shows when I'm guessing he thought he'd enjoy a bump from his heroic ethanol deal with Brazil.

[madokie]

15. being an ole has been drunk I can understand his wanting the ethanol deal

and yes I too enjoyed the visual of the 'little one'* running through the halls of the Whitehouse ranting and raving

I mean no disrespect to a person who drinks, only to myself and bush*

[HCE SuiGeneris]

13. Assign him "enemy combatant" status for his callous disregard

in upholding the constitution.

[spanone]

14. YES, then impeach bush*, gonzales is only doing the presdents bidding.

[sonias]

16. Now that he's getting more scrutiny

More and more will see how incompetent he is at his job. More abuses of the constitution will be found since Gonzales doesn't really believe in it anyway. He's just a party hack. Then the bushies will see him as a distraction to their goals and they'll dump him. He'll be allowed to resign to spend more time with his family of course.

Sonia

[rodeodance]

17. and her is another Du thread on this Editorial:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3155893

[gratuitous]

18. "Mr. Bush should dismiss Mr. Gonzales"

And I thought the New York Times didn't have a comics section! :rofl:

Why would Mr. Bush dismiss Mr. Gonzales, who is doing his job to Mr. Bush's complete and total satisfaction? And when Mr. Bush completely ignores the Times, Sen. Hagel, Sen. Specter, Sen. Schumer, and the rising tide and chorus of voices looking to restore some semblance of the American system, what then, New York Times? What then?

Because otherwise, you're wasting your voice and just setting ink to hear yourself talk. Are you prepared to take the next step when the Bush administration ignores you?

[Gman]

25. I wish we had John Mitchell back

30 years ago I never thought I'd say that.

[Major Hogwash]

27. This is no time to be oblique - indict him!!

He obviously hasn't held up the laws of the Constitution.

Indict, convict, impeach!

[radfringe]

28. we'll know when Gonzales is heading out the door

when during a press conference bush says "Attorney Gonzales is doing a FABULOUS job."

so far the only support statements are through white house press secretary office saying that bush has confidence in Gonzales

[lonestarnot]

29. kick