Alberto Gonzales: The Most Dangerous Man in America? (Redux)
Quite a few months back, I opined that U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is the most dangerous man in America. During his tenure, Gonzales has managed to make John Ashcroft appear to be an even-handed AG. For all of the past criticism of Ashcroft, he at least understood that he was in charge [...]
Quite a few months back, I opined that U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is the most dangerous man in America. During his tenure, Gonzales has managed to make John Ashcroft appear to be an even-handed AG. For all of the past criticism of Ashcroft, he at least understood that he was in charge of the U.S. Department of Justice, not the White House legal situation room.
Gonzales is clearly in the line of fire these days, and it’s quite possible that his head is about to roll. Certainly, his pooh-poohing of AttorneyGate is one reason - but a larger reason might be the need for a fall guy to protect Karl Rove:
Presidential advisor Karl Rove and at least one other member of the White House political team were urged by the New Mexico Republican party chairman to fire the state’s U.S. attorney because of dissatisfaction in part with his failure to indict Democrats in a voter fraud investigation in the battleground election state.
In an interview Saturday with McClatchy Newspapers, Allen Weh, the party chairman, said he complained in 2005 about then-U.S. Attorney David Iglesias to a White House liaison who worked for Rove and asked that he be removed. Weh said he followed up with Rove personally in late 2006 during a visit to the White House.
“Is anything ever going to happen to that guy?” Weh said he asked Rove at a White House holiday event that month.
“He’s gone,” Rove said, according to Weh.
“I probably said something close to ‘Hallelujah,’” said Weh.
This is a huge development, and certainly provides direct evidence that there is much more to the story than simply Gonzales trying to exercise his Patriot Act options in canning U.S. Attorneys. In fact, we have to be getting close to RICO act territory here. So, AttorneyGate might be the impetus, but there are many, many other reasons that the AG must go - foremost among them that the Bush regime needs a high level sacrificial lamb, and quickly. The New York Times enumerates a few of the reasons today in a stinging lead editorial:
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…
…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.
The calls for impeachment of George Bush and Dick Cheney will never amount to much of anything - particularly as long as Alberto Gonzales continues to occupy the Attorney General’s office. Any move toward impeachment of the Bush-Cheney regime must, out of necessity, start with Gonzales. If Gonzales is not asked by the regime to tender his resignation, congressional hearings must start immediately, with the intent of removing the most dangerous man in America from office. That’s where the housecleaning has to start.
Re: impeaching Gonzales
As Dirty Harry would say: go ahead Democrat punks, make my day!
Seriously, Republicans would like nothing better than this. Can you say political hari-kiri? How do you think Democrat-leaning Hispanic voters would react to such a move?
I’ve been saying since Gonzales’ testimony about Habeas Corpus that some, any, all Dems on that committee should have immediately called for his resignation. And barring that, they should have started impeachment hearings.Some Dem shoulda said “Interesting ideas about habeas corpus mr Attorney General, interesting constituional philosophy…Mr, Chairman, I want it known on the Congessional Record here and now, that I will be filing charges of impeachment against the Attorney General within the week”. That’s all that one brave Dem congressperson had to say, and I’d bet good money that when Gonzales came before any committee in re the USA’s firings, he never would have even thought about saying it was purely a personel decision. He is the worst sort of toady and manipulator of facts. Heck, even I, watching his sworn testimony can tell when he’s lying.. why can’t any of the Dems see that in person?! And seriously, is there not one courageous and righteous Repub that can stand up to Gonzales? Why, why, why does this man still have a job?
I think Gonzo knows too much dirty business by this administration and he’s too much of a risk to fire him. He might get pissed and let a great big old mean cat or cats out of the bag.
I think Gonzo knows too much dirty business…
How many bad actors in the regime have we said this about?? They all have dirt - but they’re all dirty, too. Someone’s gotta spill soon, as much as an ass saving measure as anything else.
But who?