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Wednesday, November 10, 2004
The book on the new Attorney General
Posted by Tim TagarisI saw some people ask "downthread" about the potential new Attorney General. His name, if confirmed, is Alberto Gonzales.
The Associated Press reports that Gonzales served as Bush's general counsel when the President was Governor of Texas. He then went on to become the Secretary of State in Texas and eventually found his way to the Texas Supreme Court.
So far it might not sound so troublesome, but read on.
Gonzales, unfortunately, is a public supporter of detaining "terror" suspects for extended periods of time without access to the courts or even representation. He is also an aspiring an "author." His most famous recent body of work was the famous 2002 memo "in which Bush claimed the right to waive anti-torture law and international treateies providing protections to prisoners of war."
Jesse from Pandagon notes Gonzales argued the Geneva Conventions are "quaint" and "oudated."
Oh, and he was a partner in the law firm that represented Enron.
Steve Soto has the last word on Gonzales:
"Given how shocked various GOP senators were in seeing what transpired at Abu Ghraib, and knowing how upset even John Warner is at being stonewalled by the Pentagon and the White House over his requests for information on Abu Ghraib, it's easy to see how the Democrats can form alliances with GOP moderates to strongly fight any Gonzales nomination to the highest law enforcement post in the land. If John Warner and Lindsey Graham are that concerned about the Abu Ghraib debacle, and if John McCain shares Colin Powell's revulsion at the trashing of the Geneva Convention protocols and what it means for American POWs from here on out, how can any of these three vote for the architect of that legal doctrine to be our AG?"
Ok I lied, I have the last word. To me, this is a pretty transparent move to expand a Latino base for the Republicans. Sure, it helps that Gonzales and the President share the core principles of lack of due process and torture in the best interests of our country, but that's just an added bonus.
I find it ironic that this comes on the heels of an announcement by the White House, expressing the desire to legalize some illegal aliens.
Message amplification reveals itself in many forms. Color me a skeptic.
Tim
Update 2:40 P.M. - Here is a .pdf LINK to the memo Gonzales sent to the President. The one where he calls the Geneva Conventions, "quaint" and "outdated."
It should also be noted that CNN reported that Gonzles once got President George W. Bush out of jury duty (obviously before he was President). The reason CNN gave was so that Bush didn't have to answer that "one simple question." Just how many times have you been arrested?
Posted at 01:13 PM in General | Technorati
Comments
Gonzales presents a serious problem for the Dems. if they reject him, it'll hurt them with the Hispanic population. They have to accept him, unfortunately.
Posted by: erg at November 10, 2004 02:10 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment
The fact that Gonzales is a Hispanic will mean nothing. He's just as controversial as Ashcroft was, and in fact several GOP senators have spoken out against the government's policies torture which Gonzales wrote. I doubt he will get Bush much, if any, support among Hispanics.
Posted by: Dale at November 10, 2004 05:18 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment
government's policies on torture
Posted by: Dale at November 10, 2004 05:20 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment
Don't you guys see it? Dems have been bleeding hispanic support:
In '96 Dole only got 21% of the Hispanic vote. In 2000 Bush, a republican governor popular with Hispanic Texans, is nominated and he grows that support to 35%. And this year Bush got 44% of the hispanic vote.
Now he nominates Gonzales and brings out this amnesty program again. These are direct overtures and rewards to the hispanic community. Many hispanic families are finding their morals are in line with the president's.
Dems need to nominate a moderate hispanic as DNC chair to combat this. Forget Howard Dean. He is a loose cannon and will always be one.
Posted by: deltanine at November 11, 2004 05:08 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment
RECOUNT IN OHIO:
Michael Badnarick (Libertarian) David Cobb (Green Party) have joined forces to demand a recount in Ohio. Here is the article:
Posted by: Sam at November 11, 2004 06:48 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment