2008 Woodie Awards
Republicans can't let Gonzales go
Matthew Adair
Issue date: 6/13/07 Section: Opinions
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is breathing a little easier, thanks to his Republican friends in Congress, but whether he deserves this political thumbs-up from the Senate remains a question that his allies in Congress and the White House haven't been able to answer.
This Monday, Senate Republicans struck down a Democratic move for a vote of no confidence against the attorney general 53-38, cutting Democrats seven votes short of the measure. President George W. Bush called the vote a 'political measure' and wagged the proverbial finger at Democrats, as well as the handful of Republicans who joined in to vote against Gonzales, for trying to tell him what sort of people he can give the reins of government to.
Apparently, the president is either completely oblivious or willfully ignorant of the noise that Congress has been making over Gonzales and his track record as the attorney general.
That should be expected, though- after all, this is the man that, when the president told him that he was going to wiretap anyone he wanted without a warrant, said that was completely okay and absolutely not a violation of the civil rights of the American people, and proceeded to badger then-Attorney General John Ashcroft to let the president have his way. Since becoming attorney general himself, Gonzales has proven to be a good little yes man for the president, gleefully defending the warrant-less wiretap program.
This is the same man who, in 2002, wrote a memo calling the Geneva Conventions "quaint" and, under his administration of the Justice Department, has twisted our laws into permitting the torture, mistreatment and indefinite detention of prisoners taken under the banner of the War on Terror, people who many times are innocent, have no information that would benefit the United States in pursuing al-Qaida or any other terrorist organization and are bewildered, angry and terrified with their surroundings and their treatment.
This is the same man who, as attorney general, approved of the firing of nine federal prosecutors in 2006 who didn't walk the administration's line, which is what prompted the vote of no confidence in the first place.
Gonzales and his aides shuffled around in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee and offered conflicting and contradictory statements as to just what was going on in his department and why the attorneys were fired in the first place.
Of course the president would have faith in this man. He does exactly what he's told, and does it with a smile.
Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) seemed to speak for those Republicans that were tired of the attorney general's rubber-stamp approval of the president's illegal actions when he told CNN that Gonzales had no confidence from the Republican side of the aisle, and that his colleagues would be more vocal in raising their concerns with Gonzales if they weren't afraid of political retribution from their president and party.
What a wonderful democracy we have - the president can exercise whatever powers he wants with a nod from his legal counsel, the opposition party is publicly blasted for pulling political stunts when it tries to challenge government officials who fail to do their job and who permit illegal activity and corruption, and dissenters in the party in power are afraid to speak up out of the fear of losing their jobs in the next election. No wonder we couldn't build a functioning republic in Iraq - we have enough problems trying to run one, right here at home.
As to the Democrat's 'political stunt', the vote of no confidence wouldn't have actually removed Gonzales from the head of the Justice Department, had it passed.
Unlike in parliamentary governments such as those of Canada or the United Kingdom, where such a vote can oust an entire government, Congressional votes of no confidence are non-binding measures that simply declare that Congress does not approve of a government official. The only thing the vote would have done is put on the record that a bipartisan majority of the federal legislature feels that the attorney general, as stated in the resolution itself, "no longer holds the confidence of the Senate or the American people."
The real decision making in this case falls to Bush, who has the authority to remove the attorney general from office. However, I would imagine he wouldn't want to kick out as loyal an agent as Gonzales, especially with his second term winding down to its conclusion. A good president needs good men to support him, no matter what, I imagine he must be thinking, and Attorney General Gonzales is as good a man as they come.
Matthew Adair is a senior art education major and can be reached at matt.adair@gmail.com.
This Monday, Senate Republicans struck down a Democratic move for a vote of no confidence against the attorney general 53-38, cutting Democrats seven votes short of the measure. President George W. Bush called the vote a 'political measure' and wagged the proverbial finger at Democrats, as well as the handful of Republicans who joined in to vote against Gonzales, for trying to tell him what sort of people he can give the reins of government to.
Apparently, the president is either completely oblivious or willfully ignorant of the noise that Congress has been making over Gonzales and his track record as the attorney general.
That should be expected, though- after all, this is the man that, when the president told him that he was going to wiretap anyone he wanted without a warrant, said that was completely okay and absolutely not a violation of the civil rights of the American people, and proceeded to badger then-Attorney General John Ashcroft to let the president have his way. Since becoming attorney general himself, Gonzales has proven to be a good little yes man for the president, gleefully defending the warrant-less wiretap program.
This is the same man who, in 2002, wrote a memo calling the Geneva Conventions "quaint" and, under his administration of the Justice Department, has twisted our laws into permitting the torture, mistreatment and indefinite detention of prisoners taken under the banner of the War on Terror, people who many times are innocent, have no information that would benefit the United States in pursuing al-Qaida or any other terrorist organization and are bewildered, angry and terrified with their surroundings and their treatment.
This is the same man who, as attorney general, approved of the firing of nine federal prosecutors in 2006 who didn't walk the administration's line, which is what prompted the vote of no confidence in the first place.
Gonzales and his aides shuffled around in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee and offered conflicting and contradictory statements as to just what was going on in his department and why the attorneys were fired in the first place.
Of course the president would have faith in this man. He does exactly what he's told, and does it with a smile.
Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) seemed to speak for those Republicans that were tired of the attorney general's rubber-stamp approval of the president's illegal actions when he told CNN that Gonzales had no confidence from the Republican side of the aisle, and that his colleagues would be more vocal in raising their concerns with Gonzales if they weren't afraid of political retribution from their president and party.
What a wonderful democracy we have - the president can exercise whatever powers he wants with a nod from his legal counsel, the opposition party is publicly blasted for pulling political stunts when it tries to challenge government officials who fail to do their job and who permit illegal activity and corruption, and dissenters in the party in power are afraid to speak up out of the fear of losing their jobs in the next election. No wonder we couldn't build a functioning republic in Iraq - we have enough problems trying to run one, right here at home.
As to the Democrat's 'political stunt', the vote of no confidence wouldn't have actually removed Gonzales from the head of the Justice Department, had it passed.
Unlike in parliamentary governments such as those of Canada or the United Kingdom, where such a vote can oust an entire government, Congressional votes of no confidence are non-binding measures that simply declare that Congress does not approve of a government official. The only thing the vote would have done is put on the record that a bipartisan majority of the federal legislature feels that the attorney general, as stated in the resolution itself, "no longer holds the confidence of the Senate or the American people."
The real decision making in this case falls to Bush, who has the authority to remove the attorney general from office. However, I would imagine he wouldn't want to kick out as loyal an agent as Gonzales, especially with his second term winding down to its conclusion. A good president needs good men to support him, no matter what, I imagine he must be thinking, and Attorney General Gonzales is as good a man as they come.
Matthew Adair is a senior art education major and can be reached at matt.adair@gmail.com.
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