Monday, March 12, 2007

It's Time for Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez to Resign - Vol. 3 Issue 35

Shakespeare was profoundly correct when he said (in Julius Caesar), “The evil men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones.” But who will come to praise Alberto Gonzalez when it is his time to go? Surely, he won’t be praised by those who were the “beneficiaries” of his legal counsel to the President of the United States that torture was a perfectly acceptable tool in the “War on Terror.” Gonzalez and his twisted messenger boy, John Yoo (now Professor of Law at, of all places, Berkeley!), had their first comeuppance last June; when the Supreme Court ruled that the Bush administration’s policy of trying terror suspects before military tribunals was illegal. The 5-3 ruling said that the tribunals violated U.S. military law and the Geneva Convention. See, PBS.org.

Now it appears that the over-reaching by Gonzalez and his henchmen at the Justice Department is epidemic and out of control. It is obvious to even the casual observer that the D.O.J. is in full crisis intervention mode. Between the FBI admissions that it improperly investigated thousands of innocent citizens using the so-called “Patriot Act,” to Gonzalez’s awkward attempts to placate the Senate Judiciary Committee as his credibility crumbles, the Justice Department’s public relations and press officers are working 24-hour days.

For the last two years, Gonzales has led the Justice Department through a series of prominent controversies, including complaints of political meddling in civil rights cases and clashes over the powers of the federal government to detain terrorism suspects and spy on Americans. When he was under the protection of a Republican Congress, and insulated by his status as one of President Bush’s closest confidants, Gonzales seemed untouchable. Things are different now with the Democrats able to hold hearings and issue subpoenas. So, along comes the inevitable reaction to Gonzales description of the controversy surrounding the firing of 8 U.S. Attorneys, as an “overblown personnel matter.” Talk about tone deaf! Republican office holders, like Senator Pete Domenici and U.S. Representative Heather Wilson have much to explain. But the arc of tragedy will pass through the Attorney General’s office. Remember Brutus? Mr. Gonzales would do well to read Julius Caesar and see which Republican friend of his will deliver the fatal blow.

Remembering, “there are few minds to which tyranny is not delightful,” I remain

Savant