Friday, February 3, 2006
[1468 - Johann Gutenberg, printer, dies]
[1944 - U.S. troops capture the Marshall Islands]
[1950 - Klaus Fuchs arrested for passing atomic bomb information to Soviets]
[1973 - President Nixon signs Endangered Species Act into law]
Generally Wrong
A year ago the Senate confirmed Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General of the United States. Both the Senate and the public had some serious reservations about Judge Gonzales, who while serving as White House Counsel apparently advised President Bush after 9-11 that he was above the law when it came to the treatment of those he chose to label as enemy combatants or terrorists. We now had a chief law enforcement officer who thought that the Geneva Conventions (that those of us who served in military relied on as the gold standard for the treatment of prisoners) somehow did not apply to al-Qaida or the war in Afghanistan. Judge Gonzales had also defended the administration's policy of detaining terrorism suspects indefinitely in Guantanamo without access to lawyers or courts until the Supreme Court rejected that imperialist notion. We wished the new AG well, however, until we could see what he would do with his office.
First year grades are in now, and it is time to see how General Gonzales fared. In many enforcement action cases that had been brought against large corporations by previous AG's, the Justice Department has issued 'get out of jail free' cards to defendants. General Gonzales has continued in the role he started as White House counsel as an advocate for the expansion of executive power of the president, and as apologist for President Bush's excesses and overreaching assumption of authority. Although he pays lip service to his duty to protect the civil rights of citizens, his actions in support of domestic spying and data mining show his true colors. General Gonzales gets a D- for his first year performance, and continues on probation.
William's Whimsical Words:
Remember that the last loyal and true servant of the President (instead of the People) who went over to the Department of Justice (and who shall remain nameless except for his initials: John Mitchell) ended up in federal prison.
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