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Incompetent, Corrupt or WorsePosted on Aug 27, 2007By Marie Cocco WASHINGTON—It’s not really Alberto Gonzales’ fault. President Bush’s attorney general, who long ago relinquished any thread of credibility, finally gave up his position as the nation’s top law enforcement official Monday. He leaves the attorney general’s office as the most discredited man to hold the post since Richard Nixon’s John Mitchell. The parallel is apt. We do not yet know whether Gonzales was personally involved in rank criminality. We know only that the Justice Department, on Gonzales’ watch, was an arm of the White House political apparatus—as it was under Nixon—and that Justice lent its good offices to further the goals of the Republican National Committee. This is what the congressional probe that began as an inquiry into the firing of nine U.S. attorneys has revealed. Gonzales, on various and repeated occasions, testified that he either did not recall or was ignorant of how the prosecutors were selected for termination. Some of the dismissed attorneys have made it plain they believe they were canned for failing to pursue the administration’s political agenda, whether it was pressing bogus voter fraud prosecutions against Democratic-leaning groups or indicting Democratic politicians or even failing to be sufficiently zealous in seeking the death penalty in criminal cases. Gonzales’ sworn testimony about other crucial and controversial matters—notably, his role as White House counsel in the infamous hospital bedside visit by officials who tried to get Attorney General John Ashcroft to approve an eavesdropping scheme to which he’d already objected—is contradicted by the notes of the FBI director, Robert S. Mueller. There came to be only two conclusions to be drawn about Gonzales. Either he was completely incompetent or unfailingly corrupt. There is a stronger, third possibility, suggested by Gonzales’ entire history as consigliere to the Bush crowd. It is the one to which we must pay closest attention, for dozens more like Gonzales remain in their high offices. Gonzales was willing to do whatever the president and his political men required of him. This is how he came to put his name on memos condoning torture, to call the Geneva Conventions obsolete, and to give his professional blessing to a legal framework for terrorism detentions that shreds decades of international law and with it the reputation of the United States. The significance of Gonzales’ departure so soon after the announced leave-taking of White House political guru Karl Rove is not, as some would have it, merely that the last of Bush’s Texas loyalists are fleeing. It is that they were partners in building a scheme to subvert the entire federal government to political ends. Earlier this month, documents released to congressional investigators showed that top Justice Department officials attended at least a dozen political briefings at the White House over the past six years, and at least one held at the Department of Agriculture. Many were led by Rove himself, and they focused on advancing the Bush agenda—and favored Republican candidates—in congressional elections. Gonzales had testified in July that he wasn’t aware of such briefings, which would violate federal law and departmental regulations if any were held at the Justice Department or at another federal department. Then the documents came to light. The briefings expounded upon an elaborate system of “asset deployment,” developed by Rove, to use every conceivable asset of the federal government—grants, Cabinet officials’ time and travel budgets, media attention—to promote Republicans. The Bush people took a time-honored perk of incumbency and elevated it to a tipping point that may constitute a vast and illicit use of government resources. This is the sort of thing a vigilant attorney general is supposed to watch out for. Gonzales turned a blind eye, or was a part of it. And it is why nothing about his resignation satisfies. We still have a president who does not give a whit that the “assets” his minions deploy in furtherance of partisan gain belong to the people of the United States. We have a president for whom loyalty to the White House, and not to public service or even the Constitution, seems still to be the sole criterion for tenure in high-level office. Bush, not his devout lieutenant Gonzales, is responsible for what has gone on at the Justice Department and everywhere else his hacks are passed off as public officials. Marie Cocco’s e-mail address is mariecocco(at)washpost.com. © 2007, Washington Post Writers Group Previous item: Merv Griffin's Bodyguard of Lies Next item: You Say Chaos, I Say Accountability Elsewhere: . CommentsAre you a Truthdig member yet? Login now, or register with Truthdig.
By don knutsen, August 30, 2007 at 8:57 am # Orin Hatch for AG ? My God, he’s the poster child of blind partisanhip. Dosen’t anyone remember him during Iran/Contra where he steadfastly cheerleaded for Ollie North after he had admitted to ignoring the congress and running his arms trading with Iran out of Saint Reagan’s basement to secure funds for the Contras in Central America? I’m quite sure he is high on the shrub’s list becuase he, like Gonzalas , apparently feels no need to uphold the people’s constitution.
By Ian MacLeod, August 29, 2007 at 8:28 pm # First, regarding a comment above about native Texans not reading books: Darlin’, I am a native Texan - as opposed to Dubya, who is NOT - and I read about a book a day; they’re better than apples. In fact, I;m writing a couple; I writemusic too. I detest Bush and his Clingons, a term once used to describes something stuck to a cat’s fur after a visit to the catbox. Now, regarding Gonzo, I’ll go for calling his actions rank criminality. He, Bush and Cheney all swore to defend the Constitution, and all of them have done the exact opposite: they’ve tried very hard to unmake it! They are all war criminals. all guilty of high treason from several directions, and Pelosi should be named an accessory after the fact for her “Impeachment is off the table” ruling. I feel the neocon contingent of asylum escapees should be required to pay back everything they’ve stolen, as well. That should take care of the Bush fortune (including Papa Bush’s; it all came from supporting Hitler - while we were fighting him! - and other tyrants, thievery and insider trading, etc., anyway) and everyone else’s. That will still leave the better part of a trillion bucks they owe, but I have an idea there too! I say that our government should sell raffle tickets for positions on the firing squads after the trials. THAT ought to make a BUNDLE back, especially if they’re sold in the Middle East as well as here at home! My point? That there HAS to be a price paid for such a blatant, despicable sellout of the American people! If not, the Rule of Law is made a mockery of forever - or so close to it, not even my grandkids will see anything different. Ian82making
By Dawn Griffin, August 29, 2007 at 12:55 pm # Finally someone said it. Why anyone would think the Prez would choose someone of fine moral character to advise him after Ashcroft finally drew the line on Bush’s megalomaniacal destruction of the Constitution is beyond me. I pity Gonzalez’s weakness in accepting the job in the first place. What a patsy. Impeach Bush
By GW=MCHammered, August 28, 2007 at 1:47 pm # Incompetence, Corruption and Corporatism is not what America should be about. Our leaders turned the Sirens of Capitalism into mindless Whores of Materialism. What a waste.
By Sharon Ash, August 28, 2007 at 10:59 am # Gonzales is representative of all of Bush’s cronies, they work for Bush, not for the citizens. The citizens just get to pick up the tab. Moreover, these are the only types of people the Bush Administration is able to attract. No one of intelligence and/or integrity would be associated with this administration.
By JEP, August 28, 2007 at 9:43 am # “I figure that when they found out how many times he had violated the Hatch Act, they also called for his immediate resignation.” If the two official titles Rove claimed had different people holdinh them, even by a narrowly interpreted Hatch Act, when those two people met to strategize, THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN VIOLATING THE HATCH ACT! So, after he was appointed to the job as Deputy Director of Staff, and retained his political-office job, Rove represented a walking, breathing Hatch Act violation. I wonder if it hurt? Apparently enough to make him resign…
By Greg, August 28, 2007 at 8:50 am # I haven’t heard anyone mention very loudly that Gonzales, and especially Bush, should be investigated for obstruction of justice charges. When Congress orders someone to testify before Congress and the president tells said people not to appear that is executive branch interference with a legal investigation. When will the Dems get some balls?
By Dr Bob, August 28, 2007 at 8:27 am # Competence is the issue. The President himself has rarely if ever relied on his competence/personal qualification to achieve his goals. He got what he got because he was the scion of a powerful family, not because he was competent in whatever he was trying to do. To him, competence doesn’t matter, it’s all who you know, so it’s no wonder competence plays little role in his appointments. Thus we wind up with an administration characterized by its general incompetence, the Attorney General included.
By Homer Hewitt, August 28, 2007 at 3:59 am # The office of the Attorney General issued a brief statement saying only that Mr. Gonzales wishes to return to Texas and spend more time with Karl Rove.
By Inherit The Wind, August 27, 2007 at 10:31 pm # Three things about this week’s resignations: 1) Congress is in recess. Bush can make a recess appointment to fill Gonzo’s seat and they can’t stop it--and that appointment will last to the end of Bush’s admin. So watch out! 2) Bush could appoint Joe Lieberman. Lieberman is SO selfish he could take the job, leaving the Republican Governor of Connecticut to appoint a Republican replacement, giving the Senate back to the Republicans for the next 16 months, and allowing him the luxury of more rotten, corrupt appointments. Lieberman’s done it before: In 2000 he kept his Senate seat instead of letting a Dem run for it while he ran for VP. Had he won the VP seat, the Senate would have been 49 Dem 51 GOP. But since he “lost”, the Senate was 50-50--with Cheney as the deciding vote. But Jeffords switched to make it 51-49 Dems… 3) Rove’s resignation is MEANINGLESS! He is an advisor to the President and since he’s no longer “Deputy Chief of Staff” but really the political advisor, it’s just a paper resignation to cover Bush’s sorry ass. Turd Blossom will CONTINUE to be the chief political advisor to Chimpy McFlightSuit. So what IF Bush actually picks Orren Hatch as AG? Hatch is politically the most double-jointed politician on the Hill. Clarence Thomas sexually harassing Anita Hill: Good. Bill Clinton propositioning Paula Jones: Bad. Newt Gingrich et al cheating on their wives: Good. Bill Clinton cheating on his wife: bad.
By Allen, August 27, 2007 at 10:08 pm # I must agree. At the root of all this sorry mess is the thing we call President Bush. One wonders how many wounds this man will inflict upon our republic. Add Your Comment |
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