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Confirmation Hearing for Alberto Gonzales

By Jeralyn, Section Other Politics
Posted on Thu Jan 06, 2005 at 05:09:06 AM EST
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The confirmation hearings for Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General begin today. Alan Berlow, who authored the Atlantic Monthly article on Gonzales' role as clemency advisor to President Bush when he was Governor of Texas recaps Gonzales role as Facilitator in Chief in Salon:

When Alberto Gonzales briefed George W. Bush on the cases of Texas death row inmates up for clemency, his memos were so shabby they seemed intended solely to make it easy for Bush to send prisoners to their deaths.

...Now that conventional wisdom has focused attention on "moral values" as our paramount national concern, it might be worth spending a few minutes considering how President Bush's nominee for attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, dealt with one of those values -- human life -- on 57 occasions.

The Washington Post analyzes Gonzales' record in an editorial today:

Senators should with great care ask Mr. Gonzales to fill in the aspects of his record that are not known and to explain how he justifies those decisions that appear to have harmed the nation. The country needs an attorney general capable and confident enough to stand up for the law and deliver arm's-length legal advice. Before voting to confirm, senators need to satisfy themselves that -- notwithstanding his history -- Mr. Gonzales can and will deliver such advice.

More on the Gonzales' Texas Clemency memos from the Washington Post today here. .

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    Confirmation Hearing for Alberto Gonzales | 10 comments (10 topical)
    Re: Confirmation Hearing for Alberto Gonzales (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Jan 06, 2005 at 02:24:54 AM EST
    that's 'Codifier of American-Style Torture'

    Re: Confirmation Hearing for Alberto Gonzales (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Jan 06, 2005 at 05:36:19 AM EST
    Have any of you seen this poster about the evil Gonzales? Check it out at: http://www.antiwar.com/blog You have to scroll down to see it.

    Re: Confirmation Hearing for Alberto Gonzales (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Jan 06, 2005 at 06:54:07 AM EST
    You have to give the repubs credit for their political tactics. Like Thomas, Gonzales is a person who skin is darker than mine. It is a measure of the diversity of people of color that there are the likes of Thomas, Gonzales, Rice, and Powell. They are a lot like white folks - all over the political spectrum. Doesn't change the fact that Gonzales must be repudiated for his role in the torture scandal. He is one of the bad apples. If we don't draw the line here and now, we are culpable. This current group are fascists, unprincipled robber barons, nazi's. I know that their fans will object to the description. Hitler's fans were legion in 1938 and they did not appreciate Germans who expressed concern about the direction the country was headed. Fear not the path of truth for the lack of people traveling it. arab proverb, I am told.

    Re: Confirmation Hearing for Alberto Gonzales (none / 0) (#5)
    by Dadler on Thu Jan 06, 2005 at 07:47:49 AM EST
    just caught a few minutes of his testimony. little smirk on his face, condescending tone. claiming since bush has now said we do not condone torture, that his opinion on torture was irrelavent because of it. pure rubbish. he seems a typical pol. company man. lackey. can't even stand up and say he was just doing what his boss told him to do by justifying prisoner abuse. or that his memos lead the way to a catastrophic loss of american moral credibility around the globe. thanks, alberto. the man seems a big piece of intellectual nothing. nice childhood story -- which MANY of us have, by the way -- but in no way a person fit to be attorney general of the u.s.

    Re: Confirmation Hearing for Alberto Gonzales (none / 0) (#6)
    by desertswine on Thu Jan 06, 2005 at 07:50:55 AM EST
    I prefer to call him Abu Gonzales.

    Re: Confirmation Hearing for Alberto Gonzales (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Jan 06, 2005 at 07:54:19 AM EST
    You have to give the repubs credit for their political tactics. Like Thomas, Gonzales is a person who skin is darker than mine. It is a measure of the diversity of people of color that there are the likes of Thomas, Gonzales, Rice, and Powell. They are a lot like white folks - all over the political spectrum. And you have to give the Republicans credit for the political tactic of having Gonzales show up with his wife and children - thus putting the dems in the awkward situation of questioning Gonzales about the administration's use of torture in front of the kids. Typical Buscho maneuver.

    Re: Confirmation Hearing for Alberto Gonzales (none / 0) (#8)
    by theologicus on Thu Jan 06, 2005 at 08:27:13 AM EST
    You can ger "live" online commentary on the hearings as they happen at: Human Rights First Blog Informed and incisive.

    Re: Confirmation Hearing for Alberto Gonzales (none / 0) (#9)
    by Che's Lounge on Thu Jan 06, 2005 at 08:55:15 AM EST
    Funny, he really doesn't look like the kind of guy who would condone sticking a light up your a**.

    Re: Confirmation Hearing for Alberto Gonzales (none / 0) (#10)
    by Darryl Pearce on Thu Jan 06, 2005 at 09:10:13 AM EST
    Funny, he really doesn't look like the kind of guy who would condone sticking a light up your a**. Gonzales wouldn't do that. Neither would Bush. Nor Cheney, Rumsfeld nor the rest of the Neocon Possé. ...they allow our young folks in the military to do it.

    Re: Confirmation Hearing for Alberto Gonzales (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Jan 07, 2005 at 02:26:16 PM EST
    Especially as we now know that a great number of our troops have NEVER been instructed in the Geneva C or the UCMJ and Department of Death rules of engagement. They were all, of course, LIED TO by their C-in-C, who has brutally abused them and their families for his trumped-up war of terror. The people they ought to be looking for 'revenge' from are in the Federal gov't. Ooh, could that be why guys like Tim McVey are such LOVERS when they come back from the arbitrary hells their Washington masters chose for them? "At first killing Iraqis was hard; then it became easier." -- Tim McVey --

    Confirmation Hearing for Alberto Gonzales | 10 comments (10 topical)