Enough of Alberto
By Steve Benen Sunday Aug 19, 2007 5:30pmGiven that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' ongoing trouble with the truth made headlines again this week, and his record for dishonesty can now be summarized into an impressive list, the NYT's Adam Cohen broaches a subject first raised by the Times' editorial board last month: impeaching the Attorney General.
Impeachment was one of the important checks and balances the founders built into the Constitution. At state ratification conventions, it was promoted as a tool for Congress to rein in any officeholder who “dares to abuse the power vested in him by the people.” Impeachment of Mr. Gonzales would fit comfortably into the founders’ framework. [...]
Congress has heard extensive testimony about how Mr. Gonzales’s Justice Department has become an arm of a political party, choosing lawyers for nonpartisan positions based on politics, and bringing cases — including prosecutions that have put people in jail — to help Republicans win elections.
Mr. Gonzales’s repeated false and misleading statements to Congress are also impeachable conduct.
At this point, even Fred Hiatt wants Gonzales gone.
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Yeah...like the Republicans will let that happen ...
handcuffs, orange suit,leg irons..let's get started.
It would be a mystery to me how Alberto has been able to cling to his job the last couple of months... if I didn't already know about the complicit media, the largely apathetic public, and the Democrats who just can't seem to realize that the sparkle in the pan really does signify that there is gold in them thar hills!
Alberto, a literal goldmine of Bushco crookedness.
Not only that, his key guy Brad "the eunuch" Schlozman, just confirmed he left DOJ as of
last week. I don't know how much more bushco can abase themselves. They are really up against it though.
On one hand, he resigns and pressure relieved.. until replacement comes
aboard, then shit really hits fan. On the other hand, he stays and DOJ becomes the embarrassment it is now, ineffective, pretty much useless except for rubber stamping cheney felonies.
ITMFA
...
JOHN AMATO --- could you please re-post JON STEWART'S video the first day his show was back after 9/11 ...
I'm pretty sure you had it -- and of course it is not avail on YouTube.
It would be a great reminder given Charles Gibson's crap:
http://mediamatters.org/items/200708170015?f=h_top
thanks
Yes yes, let's get Alberto out if only to see who they pick to try and replace his sorry ass with.
Oh and thanks for the Bill Maher advert...I'm waiting with great anticipation for his return to Friday nights!
How Dare Bill take so much vacation time, who does he think he is? The President?
OK, Sen. Leahy, I've had it. Sh*t or get off the pot! No more extensions for subpoenas.
Dahgrostab'ph-r-i @ 7:
Gawd I missed Maher too....
I was worried that it would be a BS cancellation....
okay, i found it -- via post at dkos
http://www.videosift.com/video/The-Daily-Show-First-Post-911-Episode#lea...
rhfactor @ 6:
What does Gibson have to say for himself? "I'll just go on being a rotten person" no shit...it's the only way he can stay employed at Faux. What is worse that Jon Stewart be considered a sacred cow or John Gibson being a stupid cow! and as for Gibson saying Jon Stewart is "a comedian doing the news"...well that's better then being a...whatever John Gibson is...and not doing the news. You want a phony nobody is phonier then the John Gibson's, the Bill Oralies, the Rush Limpbaugh, the Melanie Morgans, the...damn there are a hell of a lot of these phony assholes...well, I think you all get the point. What we really need is some personal responsiblity for the crap these guys spew, but that's not much more then a pipe dream.
Mien Kampf.....comes to mind......
rhfactor @ 6:
Actually I watched Jon Stewart's post 911 comments just three days ago.
But now, you are right...it is gone with no record remaining.
The #1 vid of a search for "Jon Stewart 911" is the john gibson fascist crap vid.
I wonder who is pulling the strings at youtube.
Zonk
according to a post at kos, Chris Dodd is ready to impeach gonzo
I haven't seen Real Time since last January....can't wait.That show is one of the highlights of my week...I think he's got plenty of new material.......it'll be interesting to see the talking heads defending this fubar admin.
Good luck to anyone making the attempt. For a Democrat with enough courage to crawl out of beltway wisdom, for media to shed light on the situation, for the country preoccupied with Wal-Mart's latest low prices on cheaply made home items.
Admittedly a little dated, but here are the Top 10 Reasons Gonzales Must Go:
1. Lying Under Oath
2. Purging Prosecutors
3. Misusing the Patriot Act's National Security Letters
4. Authorizing Illegal NSA Domestic Surveillance
5. Enabling John Yoo and Unchecked Presidential War Powers
6. Rendering the Geneva Conventions "Quaint"
7. Supporting Military Commissions and the End of Habeas Corpus
8. Blessing Unprecedented Expansion of Presidential Signing Statements
9. Facilitating a CIA Leak Cover-Up
10. Gutting Minority Voting Rights
Not to go all Godwin's law on you here, but there is at least one great historical example of people of dignity standing up to considerable pressures from expedience and urgent crises-check out Judgement at Nuremberg discussed over here. The message: even when there are ``more pressing issues'' we have to stand up to the acts of scoundrels to send a clear and resounding message to those in the future that some things really, really matter. In the light of such scandalous behavior, niceness is tantamount to collusion.
To borrow from the great poet William Stafford from ``A Ritual to Read to Each Other'':
Impeach Gonzo now, and then move on to Cheney and Bush.
He's not going anywhere.
I keep saying, have Al Neri take Fredo fishing. It worked for Michael Corleone.
PollM @ 18:
Ignoring your blogwhoring for the moment, it's more than obvious that it's your pResident, not Congress, that's lacking credibility.
Question:Do you think that Janet Reno would of avoided Impeachment if She would of pulled this crap...............rhetorical question.
No, no, no, you're completely confused. Instead of penalizing, impeaching, firing, or even scolding Gonzales, they give him more authority--he decides on whether he's wiretapping appropriately and he gets to fast-track death penalty cases. With all that, how ever will he find time for his medal of freedom ceremony?
PollM @ 18:
You gave yourself away bud....how long did you think you could get away with it........not to proud of your Preznit are you.
They can't let Gonzo go. If he were to resign, there would be so much dancing and celebration in the streets, America would be totally nonproductive for a day, and that would just simply be bad for the economy.
bush also desperately needs Fredo like a baby needs its blankie, so he intends to keep Cowpie around, now that Turd Blossom is on his way out. You do think Gonzo has a face like a cowpie, don't you? :)
My prediction is that Fredo will be out before Congress comes back into session.
It is pretty clear that the Bushco regime is under attorney management now. Rove has left; Fredo will leave; Cheney will retire by Christmas.
The new AG will be a right-leaning R with an established reputation, someone who has otherwise served (and so can't be blocked in the Senate). Fred Thompson, esq., could do it -- but they probably need him for VP, if Cheney is ready to go. There are plenty of names in the pot, and this Shitehouse wants to remove the lightning rods and hide behind their lawyers until the election season makes it much harder to confront them.
Hol-eee cow--people have gone to jail so that Republicans can win elections? Did I miss that story? Don't get me wrong, I want to see Gonzo impeached; I'm just totally clueless.
Jeeze, what's a neocon gotta do to get impeached around here?
Oh don't laugh neocons - you're gonna be sorry when the democrats win the next election and take over congress. Oh, oh wait! That's already happened. My bad. sorry. Guess we'll have to wait for the independents or the greens to win, but o'boy - you'll be sorry then.
Congress isn't going to do jack about Fredo. What the hell they think we're paying them for, I do not know. Surely they can't think that we're paying them to sell their votes against our interests. Well, maybe they do think that. They're stupid, arrogant, and greedy enough to believe that the sun shines out of their asses and that we are here to serve them.
The Democrats in Congress are WHY it is possible to impeach Gonzales. It is the work of Senate and House Judiciary Committees which have documented IN EVIDENCE the malfeasance of the AG. Those facts, some of which circulated as hearsay in the press, are why he is so weakened.
Anyone who opposes Bushco owes Chairman Leahy and Chairman Conyers a huge round of applause.
Instead, because they cry every day until their birthday, these whining Dem-bashing kids will never thank anyone for the eventual results. No, it's bash all the time -- and even when the slow-moving glacier of Congress pushes the AG co-conspirator to the edge of a 1,000 foot cliff off which he has no choice but jump, the dem-bashers cry that it is still not their birthday.
Once he jumps -- as he must or be impeached -- the dem-bashers will cry that it took too long, it wasn't sunny, their birthday wasn't as good as last year, the gifts weren't wrapped, the candy wasn't sweet, the smiles weren't sincere. Wah! Their diapers are soiled, and it is the fault of the first person they see, so look out!
... You know, it's not as if you need a reason or grounds to impeach someone.
You'd think that Democrats would have learned this from the Clinton experience.
Democrats are spineless. The last Democratic politician with a kickass mentality was
Bobby Kennedy. Ever since then we've had guys like Jimmy Carter or Joe Lieberman.
Arroyo @ 32:
You need SIXTY-SEVEN FREE VOTES in the Senate. You don't have that.
It's not a matter of spine. It's a matter of arithmatic.
We have (at best) approximately 40 votes for any Bushco impeachment.
Impeaching the AG may be the stepping stone R (and R-leaning) Senators need to get that count up, but public pressure AGAINST REPUBLICAN SENATORS is what is required -- not Dem-bashing.
As an aside, Jimmy Carter is a better person than you, any day of the week.
Angry One @ 17:
You can add the aggravating circumstance of "under color of law" to each of those.
Heh, it didn't mean much when Clinton did it I guess :)
I dream of a world where politicians and their appointees will lose their jobs for the slightly broken law.
Yes, we would be leaderless more often then not, but maybe after a while, the scum wold sink to the bottom instead of rise to the top.
Sadly in this forum, as in most of the political world it's: "Your side is evillll! Our side is being unfairly targetted!"
Paul in LA @ 33:
Yeah butt, if they had the debate on impeachment AND it was televised - they'd get the votes. And even if they didn't, it would ruin the last remaining shreds of belief in bushco that the die hard 23 percenters have.
rcg @ 36:
Neither of those assumptions will turn out to be true. We don't have the votes, and they will not shift -- instead, the argument would be 'he lied to us for our own good.' As for the shredding of his supporter's beliefs, those beliefs would curl your toes if you actually talked with those racist, authoritarian bastards as I have.
It is far better to shift this argument into the CRIMINAL spectrum, which is what we are doing. To try to deal with them politically is to give up the agenda to a HOPELESS circus stunt.
It's the criminal system that they can't game (at least, not reliably). Once AG Fredo is gone, and USA Taylor is either gone or neutralized, the indictments from special prosecutors, and the raft of grand juries, WILL be effective in removing far more of the crony problem than the alternative -- desperate spins on the political wheel of the supposed power of 'impeachment.' It has never worked, and these aren't the circumstances to put all the eggs in that bottomless basket of failed Founder design.
Impeachment may be usable in the case of an AG, but is NOT usable in the case of unitary chief executives involved in war, with a 5-4 Court to boot. We need to stand the legal system back up, and release the dogs. And that's what we're doing, slow as it is.
To be honest, as much as I believe that Gonzo should not only be impeached but should be in jail at this point in time, I think that the longer he stays ... The more votes the Democrats are going to get in the next Election.
The general public are getting completely sick and tired of the blatant dishonestly of the Bush Presidency and I believe this will show in the election.
You can only push people around up to a certain point and then they will either completely cave in and take it up the arse or will start to fight back.
Bush and his Pinheaded enablers has pushed the envelope too far and it has negatively affected too many people.
What's taking so freakin long? This bum should have been ran out of town.
Oh yea, another DOJ resigned, schlozman
repugs are all equally as bad as the next so the worst top ten is just plain silly.
Impeaching Gonzales should begin when Congress returns. It is one thing that can start a move in the right direction for America. This man is the top cop? Can't tell the truth. Couldn't admit that the ID with his picture and name, that was just taken out of his pocket and wallet was in fact his.
Call or write your Senator and Congressman and tell them to impeach the liar. You expect them to read your minds?
there will be no impeachment of anyone in the bushleague bunch. the republicans are acting like nazis and the democrats like quislings. the country is screwed and the people are on their own.
This message of defeatism brought to you by Helen Kenney, attorney at law. If YOU have been biten by a neighbor's dog, call us.
Paul in LA @ 33:
Maybe Consiglieri Gonzo has some dirt on some of the dems and he's blackmailing them.
That is the only thing that makes sense of why the FUCK the dems are not taking aciton to impeach this muthah!
What ARE they !@#$%@ waiting for???
No we have only just began to blast this bastard. They want this to go away and we are never going to let up off this criminal running our Attorney Generals Office.
The man needs to be drug out of that office in chains and hung up on a telephone post for American people to pass and take a swat at his ass everyday.
Haven't seen Gonzo's name in the headlines lately, so was wondering what was going on regarding impeachment proceedings. Hope they move forward on this. Of course, the only problem is Bush would replace him with someone else equally as despicable or worse.
ronhohn @ 43:
Spicegal @ 46:
Nope. Just as SecDef Gates is NOT as crazy as Rumsfeld, the new AG will be a somewhat normal Republican. The Bushies do not have enough power left to demand more.
Impeach? This gutless Senate? This congress of ethical cowards? These masters of the lame excuse?!? Yeah, sure.
Paul in LA @ 33:
Paul, you seem to forget: the House impeaches, the Senate convicts.
The House impeached Clinton, the Senate did not convict him.
I do think that the House would impeach Gonzalez, however, I frankly do not
think that the Senate would convict Gonzalez, but I don't care. I would settle for the
impeachment.
Who was talking about me? Jimmy Carter is a good person, and WAS a LOUSY president.
Paul @ 49:
Paul,
The House impeaches, the Senate convicts.
I figure they'll be ready to impeach about the time Bush destroys the world. Seriously, I've given up on the whole political process. Freedom from fear? Good God! On a day when you can get the real news ( which is rare) it's scary as hell. GWB is one of the worst war criminals I've ever seen, the most corrupt administration in my life, the sheep are being led, and the herd doesn't even notice. Seriously, People are fucked.
If Congress won't or can't do something. Maybe WE can. A creative suggestion was proposed by a caller on the Ed Schultz show today.
Petition the Texas State Bar for disbarment of Gonzales.
Without a license to practice law, I don't think he'll be able to continue to serve as the AG.
Here are some of the links and details:
Link to the State Bar Grivance Application and information
http://www.texasbar.com/Template.cfm?Section=Client_Attorney_Assistance&CONTENTID=3367&TEMPLATE=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfment/ContentDisplay.cfm">
Link to details regarding A. Gonzales' licensure:
http://www.texasbar.com/Template.cfm?Section=Member_Directory&template=/...
If neither of these links take you to where they are supposed to take you, try: www.texasbar.com and scroll through the menu. You can search for the attorney using their search tool.
I don't know if Mr. Gonzales is immune from disbarment, but according to the site, his actions warrant disbarrement at the very least.
Maybe if enough people send in grievances, at the very least, the state bar will have to take a look at the charges. Everyone just needs to keep it factual, simple and articulate so the bar doesn't just brush this off as "grass roots crackpots".
paul in la @42
if you could see the replys i get from my representives, dianne finestein and mary bono, you would understand why if feel the people are screwed. i have never heard so many lame excuses not to protect the constitution from people who are elected to do so.
helen kenney
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