Shooting from the hip requires better aim than this
Thomas Keister
April 24, 2007
It's like watching the C-Span version of Whose Line is it Anyway, the jabberwocky being produced by the Alberto Gonzales fiasco. After Gonzales' textbook example of twisting in the wind, the soundbites have been flowing like they are fighting upstream to mate with something. Depending on who is bumping gums, either Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is drowning, hanging onto a branch in spite of the rapids, or standing on the shore, puzzled as to why everybody is throwing out life perservers.
Senators Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Charles Schumer of New York fired the most recent shots from either major party at Gonzales, who probably won't recall any of the remarks by the time this makes the web. Specter was not pulling his shots much, calling the attorney general's amnesiac performance in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee "very, very damaging" to not only his credibility, but the administration as well. I would make the argument that putting a congressman under federal indictment on the judiciary committee, such as they did with Tom DeLay was damaging enough, but they were a little slow to catch on to that one, so...
Schumer took a bit more direct route, saying that "all of America saw why so many of us had felt for so long that he shouldn't be attorney general." Well, at least maybe those Americans who were not lock-jawed in front of the TV catching last minutes details on Anna Nicole Smith or Sanjaya, but certainly enough to score a stiff jab in the ring of public opinion.
But not all hope is lost for Alberto, yet. The embattled attorney general still has someone to sit with in the cafeterias on Capitol Hill in GOP presidential hopeful (and backing Gonzales definitely makes one a hopeful) Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas. Brownback apparently believes it is a non-issue. Despite acknowledging that Gonzales not only has the "difficulties" but the "problems" as well, Sen. Brownback feels that if Gonzales still has the support of President Bush, everybody should back off with the resignation talk and "move on." I think we have seen well enough in the past that anything that has the backing of the Dubya White House should not simply be passed on by, just on the face value of support from someone who may be just as clueless as his own underlings. I mean, Don Rumsfeld had Bush's blessing, and that...uh...well, okay, maybe it's a bad example. We'll "move on" now.
Okay, we've heard from those who think the bubbles have stopped surfacing and those who think Gonzales is hanging in there under the intense scrutiny. What does the Gonzales' own people have to say about it, assuming they can either recall the topic or are not in perpetual fear of self-incrimination? For this, we go to the yes-holes. Justice Department yes-hole Brian Roehrkasse informed the masses that "he (Gonzales) has acknowledged and apologized for the mistakes that were made during the recent resignations of eight U.S. attorneys, and he intends to continue to work closely with the Congress to reassure them that he is taking all appropriate steps to rectify this unfortunate situation."
What, exactly, has Gonzales acknowledged? I mean, the look on everybody's face was typical enough when the attorney general played the "I don't know Jack" card, but did you see the change when they realized Gonzales had brought the entire deck with him? And pardon me for being less than sensitive, but I find it hard to measure the sincerety of an apology, or the man delivering it, when he isn't even sure, by his own testimony, what it is he is apologizing for. And feigned ignorance or actual imcompetence doesn't require an apology, it requires resignation.
Senator Schumer has a near-perfect summary, saying that "He (Gonzales) was not in command of the facts. He contradicted himself. And he doesn't really appreciate the role of attorney general." Two out of three is not bad, but Alberto Gonzales was in total command of the facts The monkey wrench is that Gonzales failed to deploy any of those facts once he got within range of an open microphone. He knows that despite his quickly deteriorating party support, knowledge is dangerous, and he should have just removed all doubt and pleaded the Fifth Amendment.
There, for the grace of denial, goes the GOP. Even Specter, a vocal figure in this mess, could not resist the urge to bury himself with a little wasted rhetoric. As opposition continues to mount against Alberto Gonzales, Specter wants to be the guy screaming from the bow of the ship while taking extra-special care not to rock the boat too hard. Staying in print but safely distanced, Specter said that "my own mindset is to leave it up to the attorney general and the president."
Wait, what? If that's your mindset, why the hell did you open your mouth in the first place? Not that I'm surprised that Specter would sling mud while keeping mindful of the white suit he's wearing, but what does that say of his credibility, joining in on everything Alberto Gonzales but stopping just shy of crossing Dubya? All pandering aside, the Senate Judiciary Committee has said enough, and now it is time for action, not the same tired hollow posturing the Democrats and Republicans have mastered since it became apparent that the Bush presidency is a train wreck that refuses to jump the tracks.
Senators Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Charles Schumer of New York fired the most recent shots from either major party at Gonzales, who probably won't recall any of the remarks by the time this makes the web. Specter was not pulling his shots much, calling the attorney general's amnesiac performance in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee "very, very damaging" to not only his credibility, but the administration as well. I would make the argument that putting a congressman under federal indictment on the judiciary committee, such as they did with Tom DeLay was damaging enough, but they were a little slow to catch on to that one, so...
Schumer took a bit more direct route, saying that "all of America saw why so many of us had felt for so long that he shouldn't be attorney general." Well, at least maybe those Americans who were not lock-jawed in front of the TV catching last minutes details on Anna Nicole Smith or Sanjaya, but certainly enough to score a stiff jab in the ring of public opinion.
But not all hope is lost for Alberto, yet. The embattled attorney general still has someone to sit with in the cafeterias on Capitol Hill in GOP presidential hopeful (and backing Gonzales definitely makes one a hopeful) Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas. Brownback apparently believes it is a non-issue. Despite acknowledging that Gonzales not only has the "difficulties" but the "problems" as well, Sen. Brownback feels that if Gonzales still has the support of President Bush, everybody should back off with the resignation talk and "move on." I think we have seen well enough in the past that anything that has the backing of the Dubya White House should not simply be passed on by, just on the face value of support from someone who may be just as clueless as his own underlings. I mean, Don Rumsfeld had Bush's blessing, and that...uh...well, okay, maybe it's a bad example. We'll "move on" now.
Okay, we've heard from those who think the bubbles have stopped surfacing and those who think Gonzales is hanging in there under the intense scrutiny. What does the Gonzales' own people have to say about it, assuming they can either recall the topic or are not in perpetual fear of self-incrimination? For this, we go to the yes-holes. Justice Department yes-hole Brian Roehrkasse informed the masses that "he (Gonzales) has acknowledged and apologized for the mistakes that were made during the recent resignations of eight U.S. attorneys, and he intends to continue to work closely with the Congress to reassure them that he is taking all appropriate steps to rectify this unfortunate situation."
What, exactly, has Gonzales acknowledged? I mean, the look on everybody's face was typical enough when the attorney general played the "I don't know Jack" card, but did you see the change when they realized Gonzales had brought the entire deck with him? And pardon me for being less than sensitive, but I find it hard to measure the sincerety of an apology, or the man delivering it, when he isn't even sure, by his own testimony, what it is he is apologizing for. And feigned ignorance or actual imcompetence doesn't require an apology, it requires resignation.
Senator Schumer has a near-perfect summary, saying that "He (Gonzales) was not in command of the facts. He contradicted himself. And he doesn't really appreciate the role of attorney general." Two out of three is not bad, but Alberto Gonzales was in total command of the facts The monkey wrench is that Gonzales failed to deploy any of those facts once he got within range of an open microphone. He knows that despite his quickly deteriorating party support, knowledge is dangerous, and he should have just removed all doubt and pleaded the Fifth Amendment.
There, for the grace of denial, goes the GOP. Even Specter, a vocal figure in this mess, could not resist the urge to bury himself with a little wasted rhetoric. As opposition continues to mount against Alberto Gonzales, Specter wants to be the guy screaming from the bow of the ship while taking extra-special care not to rock the boat too hard. Staying in print but safely distanced, Specter said that "my own mindset is to leave it up to the attorney general and the president."
Wait, what? If that's your mindset, why the hell did you open your mouth in the first place? Not that I'm surprised that Specter would sling mud while keeping mindful of the white suit he's wearing, but what does that say of his credibility, joining in on everything Alberto Gonzales but stopping just shy of crossing Dubya? All pandering aside, the Senate Judiciary Committee has said enough, and now it is time for action, not the same tired hollow posturing the Democrats and Republicans have mastered since it became apparent that the Bush presidency is a train wreck that refuses to jump the tracks.
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