Bill Richardson is 100% completely wrong in supporting Abu Gonzales and Bush's authority to appoint

[Czolgosz]

any tool Bush sees fit to appoint:

Question: Alberto Gonzalez happens to be a member of your community. Is this guy gonna survive? He's the first Hispanic to have that job.

Richardson: Yeah, I know. I'm rooting for him, I like the guy, I know him. I hope he survives....

Question: It occurs to me now, listening to you talk about your friend who you know, Mr. Gonzalez, it draws a stark contrast between—I haven't checked where all the other candidates are, but I know Obama is on record very clearly saying Gonzalez should step down. I suspect other Democrats running for president are maybe saying the same thing. That's a contrast between you and others on whether or not this guy should step down.

Richardson: That's right. I do believe that it's up to a president to make those decisions about Cabinet members. Obviously, Alberto's very damaged, and he's gotta be frank and testify and do what has to happen. But I think that's up to the president.

Question: So you would not call for his stepping down right now.

Richardson: No, no. And you know what? Part of it maybe is because he's the highest-ranking Hispanic ever.

Question: But wrongdoing is wrongdoing, though. If he did wrong.

Richardson: Well, I think it's more a lack of attention, lack of a plan, lack of being thorough. He's too much the president's lawyer. He's too much of a political person. And I recognize that. ... I've had conversations with him on immigration. I thought he was very competent. ... But I just think, Tavis, that this is a presidential decision. You can pick your Cabinet. And if somebody's not performing, let him go.

Source and more context: http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200703/20070321_richardson.html

[fooj]

1. A lack of attention?

Sorry Bill. Way off on this one.

[senseandsensibility]

22. This is disturbing on so many levels

The fact that he would would apply different standards simply because he is of the same race, and the obvious lack of knowledge about what the real issues are make me wonder about his ability to be President. Seriously.

[Jacklyn75]

41. Totally agree! Very disturbing! n/t

[WinkyDink]

2. Note to BR: Ethnicity doesn't trump criminality. Kiss your nom good-bye.

"Part of it maybe is because he's the highest-ranking Hispanic ever." WTH cares??

[Colobo]

4. Richardson does. I'm Hispanic and I think Gonzo misrepresents us.

[WinkyDink]

26. And this Sicilian-American sure ain't voting for Giuliani! (Maybe he's Neapolitan. Hee.)

[Donnachaidh]

10. just lost ANY chance of getting my vote.

Backing someone doing extreme DAMAGE to citizen's rights is OKAY because he's Hispanic?

Uh -- buh-bye. Racism is racism, and it comes in all colors.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. As a fellow hispanic Governor Richardson

you are way, WAAAAYYYYY out of base here

And I hope Gonzo not only goes, but goes to prison

[Colobo]

5. He won't go to prison. If anything, he will resign and dissapear.

[WillyT]

6. Bill Thinks He's Gonna Be Able To 'Nice Guy' His Way Into The Presindency...

or at least the Vice-Presidency.

Billy... you are either totally out of it, or you're getting some REAL BAD ADVICE.

:wtf:

[blm]

31. What he's doing is emulating Bill Clinton's relationship with Poppy Bush.

Not good at all.

Clinton's extraordinary generosity to Poppy Bush helped cover up many of Bush1's crimes of office and led us to Bush2, 9-11, and this Iraq war.

[sandnsea]

7. I thought Richardson understood

This is so disappointing. I can't understand what these Bushies have to do to get people to understand they're all a bunch of crooks, no matter what color or ethnicity.

[LiberalFighter]

8. So what he is saying is that if one is Hispanic they shouldn't go to jail if they commit a crime?

Sure appears that way.

I say "If you commit the crime you do the time!!!"

[Morgana LaFey]

19. No. He's ill-informed. Remember, it's only a VERY small percentge

of the U.S. population who has access to anything like the news and analysis on the typical day at DU.

I'm not a big Bill Richardson fan, but I don't believe he's supporting this behavior.

[Laurab]

28. Someone running for president should not be ill-informed

It's really not an excuse - I would hope that any Presidential candidate surely has as much knowledge as the average DU'er.

He has to know at least that members of his party are speaking out against Gonzo.

I was open-minded about Richardson until I saw this. Someone who is running for president can't afford to be ill-informed, nor can they be biased toward a person because they share the same ethnicity.

[quiet.american]

9. This says so much about why Bushco has been allowed carte blanche for their criminality.

Everything's okay as long as you personally know the fellow and deem him a nice guy, or a good fellow, or someone like yourself -- rule of law be damned. He's nice, who could ask for anything more.

So what, Gonzales was the prime mover behind putting over 150 inmates to death in Texas, a majority of whom had seriously flawed trials conducted by seriously flawed judges and lawyers. Hey, as long as you like the guy, what's the prob.

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[saltpoint]

12. Of course he should, although Gonzales himself urged President

Bush to abandon the provisions of the Geneva Conventions and sanction torture of detainees, detainees who "in this whole new kind of war" have no legal access to counsel, nevermind a trial.

The objection to Gonzales' early work regarding Abu Ghraib is enough to prompt most Democrats to either dislike him very strongly or call for his ouster. I personally worked as hard as I could to mobilize people to oppose his nomination.

Your point stands, and I'm not arguing it, but consider also that Gonzales himself was never of a mind to be merciful to detainees as you are being to him.

[ocdem]

17. Drastic times require drastic measures

Thanks for your response :)

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[immoderate]

14. OK, so malfeasance may not be a crime...

And maybe Richardson won't have to visit his fellow Hispanic in jail. I think his roles in torture, warrantless eavesdropping, and suspension of habeas corpus, are enough to put him out of mainstream legal thought.

--IMM

[ocdem]

18. The Geneva Convention

Through the International Red Cross wants him and Sanchez both for war crimes. Both these guys gave up their freedom for life for the United States. Sanchez cannot leave the U.S. or he risks being arrested and shipped off to be tried as a war criminal in Germany, and they didnt even offer him another command. Once Gonzales leaves office he too will lose his protection from prosecution and risks being tried for war crimes as well.

I think they deserve better from us. After all, there are people trying to commit more terrorist acts on U.S. soil.

[Morgana LaFey]

20. And what is your proof of that?

After all, there are people trying to commit more terrorist acts on U.S. soil.


Got some? Something more substantive -- not to mention HONEST -- than assertions and vague threats by this administration?

[ocdem]

40. I do not have any proof

other than what's already been reported in the corporate media. But the underlying reasons for the attack on 911 have not changed. In addition, the the culprits are still at large, except for the ones who have been arrested and detained.

If I did have some proof I'd report it to the authorities immediately.

[Morgana LaFey]

43. the underlying reasons for the atack on 9-11???? And what are those?

I'd like to know.

[niyad]

25. welcome to DU-- look, there are only TWO possiblities here--ONE, that gonzo knew exactly what was

going on, and acquiesced in it, and therefore, should be fired. TWO--he DIDN'T know what was going on, which demonstrates that he is totally clueless and incompetent, and should be fired. these are the ONLY two options, PERIOD.

[WinkyDink]

27. Last time I looked, we were expressing opinions. You remember them, don't you? We held them pre-9/11

[cooolandrew]

13. That's a big strike for Richardson. I don't get where these Democrats are coming from at times.

[cooolandrew]

16. Obama '' I am a constitutional law professor, so I will respect privacy, habeas corpus and the ...

... constitution.''

[2008]

48. still, it's a good thing he said it now, while it's early in the cycle

these kinds of bloopers weed the idiots out early

it's good that someone so clueless, and apparently so amoral, exposes himself as such NOW instead of during a general-election debate (that's assuming he had a chance even without this 'Gonzo is my Hispanic buddy' BS)

god, what a tool. I had high hopes for the man before this

[Beelzebud]

15. Say goodbye to any chance at getting the nomination there Bill...

[Colobo]

23. I don't think he ever intended to be a serious candidate

Bill is looking for the VP spot... but after this, I don't know...

[FreeStateDemocrat]

50. Hillary stalking horse, will drop out and endorse her at opportune moment.

[Justice Is Comin]

24. Bill always comes late to the party.

He's always asking his campaign manager on the campaign trail--"should I know that, or do we know that...we need to know that don't we?"

Nice guy, great negotiator but not at all up on his facts.

[Ino]

29. Well, that does it for me

<strikes Richardson off my list>

[Clarkansas]

30. Czolgosz is 100% obsessed with Governor Richardson

I totally disagree with him on this, I prefer someone else in 2008, but this is far from a deal breaker. My guess is that everyone like you who already dislikes him will continue to dislike him.

This ranks up there with Kucinich's Fox News bungle.

[Czolgosz]

33. I'm equally disinterested in Richardson, Hilllary, and Biden, but will vote for any of them if they

get the nomination.

I much prefer Edwards, Kucinich, or Obama.

[pinto]

32. Richardson's pretty honest here about his POV, puts it on the prez as a CEO (of sorts...)

"Well, I think it's more a lack of attention, lack of a plan, lack of being thorough. He's too much the president's lawyer. He's too much of a political person. And I recognize that. ... I've had conversations with him on immigration. I thought he was very competent. ... But I just think, Tavis, that this is a presidential decision. You can pick your Cabinet. And if somebody's not performing, let him go."

I'm willing to withhold a snap judgment on Richardson's comment, at this time.

[skipos]

34. Yes. When I read the whole interview, I agree with most of it.

Czol's goal is to turn everyone off to Richardson, so he takes the key sentences, highlights the parts that he thinks will get the DU kneejerk "well THAT'S IT! He lost my vote!"

And leaves out this...

"They probably shouldn't have confirmed him. I don't think the president should have given him that job."

And this...

"So, I do believe that if he doesn't come forth and testify and be frank with the American people and tell the Congress, then the president should remove him. But I just think, Tavis, that this is a presidential decision. You can pick your Cabinet. And if somebody's not performing, let him go. And I don't agree with the president saying virtually that Alberto didn't do anything wrong, and that the Congress shouldn't have access to Karl Rove and to Harriet Miers. They should. But there's a human side to me. The guy's a very, very—came up from a very poor family, he's the highest-ranking Hispanic ever."

I don't agree with some of Richardson's comments, but have come to know that Czol's posts are as fair and balanced as Fox News.

[creeksneakers2]

39. I thought the same thing when I read the interview

The topic of this thread is misleading. Richardson doesn't defend Gonzales much, just says he should be given one last change. The quotes that start this thread don't provide context.

Richardson also said if Gonzales doesn't get things straightened out fast Bush ought to fire him.

[seasat]

44. Exactly I'm getting tired of Czolgosz's attack threads.

I notice that Czolgosz is an Edwards supporter but finds it necessary to post long usually wrong attacks in many threads supportive of Richardson. I could do the same thing with Edwards but I think that it is counter productive to pull such blatantly false attacks on other candidates. Also I like John Edwards and if he winds up our nominee, I would be 100% behind him.

I also should be noted that Richardson had this interview before the e-mails came out showing Gonzales was behind the firings.

Richardson said this in a later interview (LINK).

Among the many blunt but insightful comments Richardson shared were that "Attorney General Gonzales needed to decide if he was the nation's lawyer, the peoples' lawyer, or whether he was just the President's political flack."

Richardson did not feel that matters that were essentially "political" should be shielded by executive privilege. Unless it was a matter of national security, Governor Richardson saw the effort to shield Congressional oversight from the Gonzales attorney firings as inappropriate.

One of Richardson's greatest strengths and weaknesses is that he speaks without scripted talking points. It lets people that want to pull his statements out of context use them against him. However, it also make him more genuine, IMHO.

Added on edit: Why wouldn't even and idiot like * be able to appoint anyone he wants to his cabinet? It's up to congress to approve them but a president can appoint anyone they want to the cabinet. Czolgosz makes it sound almost like Richardson is defending the firing of the attorneys which is completely false.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

35. I was very interested in Richardson and now I care not a fig. nt.

[Lurking Dem]

36. Try reading the whole interview

instead of the OP's dubious spin.

[VP505]

37. It isn't surprising

that Richardson would think like that, he had many questionable appointees in his first term that ended up either being asked for their resignations or out right resigned when their background came to light. "I do believe that it's up to a president to make those decisions about Cabinet members." Just one more reason why I can't support his run for President.

[Cha]

38. Well, I'm glad I wasn't supporting

Bill Richardson cause I'd have to drop him like a hot piece of burning stupidity.

[2008]

42. Steve walks warily down the street with his brim pulled way down low

another one bites the dust

:nuke:

bye bye Richardson

you can call your exploratory committee and ask them to explain it to you

[spanone]

45. Lack of attention my ass. These fuckers will prop each other up till we throw their asses out.

[kath]

46. Buh-bye, Richardson!

So ethnicity trumps the Constitution and the rule of law?!?! WTF??

[Vidar]

47. Too bad. He has some good ideas, but this is a deal breaker.

[Bluebear]

49. Agreed. nt