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Sen. Durbin's Floor Statement Opposing Alberto Gonzales

Bump and Update: Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) gave this statement (html) on the floor of the Senate today opposing Alberto Gonalzes' nomination for Attorney General. Here's a portion from the last segment:

I respect and admire Alberto Gonzales for his inspiring life story and the many obstacles he has overcome. Some of my colleagues suggested his life story embodies the American dream. But there is more to the American dream than overcoming difficult circumstances to obtain prominence and prosperity. We also must honor Fred Korematsu's dream that our country be true to the fundamental principle upon which it was founded: the rule of law.

.....I cannot in good conscience vote to reward a man who ignored the rule of law and the demands of human decency and created the permissive environment that made Abu Ghraib possible.

When the history of these times are recorded, I believe that Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo will join the names of infamous Japanese-American internment camps such as Manzanar, Heart Mountain, and Tule Lake where Fred Korematsu and over thousands of others were detained. I cannot in good conscience vote to make the author of such a terrible mistake the chief law enforcement officer of our great Nation and the guardian of our God-given and most cherished rights.

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    Re: Sen. Durbin's Floor Statement Opposing Alberto (none / 0) (#1)
    by Adept Havelock on Wed Feb 02, 2005 at 01:05:16 PM EST
    Thank you Sen. Durbin, for an genteel and eloquent statement expressing how so many of us feel. Let the obligatory trolling begin.......

    wow

    That is beautiful.

    One word, Game!

    thanks for the excerpt talkleft. nice to read something that vaguely reminds me of what i once thought about this country. but for the foreseeable future: goodbye "rule of law" and common human "decency" hello cheney new world

    More Gonzales: link

    most of us low life people have worked all our lives so what? You mean to tell me he had to work! sad world; Poor sad Alberto so,so sad poor guy! what a wet dream bush is having. by the way we do not live in a country/empire/nation state, rule of law? is that something like freedom. I told you so.

    Thank you, I'd been looking all over for this. I will now start sending it all over. I get as starry eyed over Barack Obama as anyone, but he's only my second favorite Senator from the state of Illinois.

    Re: Sen. Durbin's Floor Statement Opposing Alberto (none / 0) (#9)
    by demohypocrates on Wed Feb 02, 2005 at 10:45:27 PM EST
    A nation of millions has free elections. Important thing now is to go after the guy that might or might not have said that panties on the head of terrorists is ok. Berlin Wall falls. HOW BOUT THE ROSENBERGS!!! I love how the present, and history, escapes y'all.

    Re: Sen. Durbin's Floor Statement Opposing Alberto (none / 0) (#10)
    by Pete Guither on Wed Feb 02, 2005 at 10:51:02 PM EST
    Once again, proud to be from Illinois. In the last few years, Durbin has really stepped up to be a true statesman.

    Alas, Durbin's arguments could not stir the Democrats to filibuster the nomination, according to the Washington Post. I take no solace in pinning Gonzales' fetid memos on Republican lapels. They should be lining the national birdcage. Tomorrow is a dark day for this democracy.

    If there is a National Birdcage, you lefties ought to be in it and you can line the bottom of it with the complete works of Michael Moore.

    Warren Fenner? I recognize that name, aren't you Gomer Pyles cousin?

    And what are you, ricky boy, a clone of Al Franken?

    Re: Sen. Durbin's Floor Statement Opposing Alberto (none / 0) (#15)
    by kdog on Thu Feb 03, 2005 at 05:48:37 AM EST
    Good point Fred, the vast majority of us work hard. But how many do good work? Not Gonzalez.

    Is that supposed to be an insult, Warren? "Al Franken"??? Damn, that's the lamest trolling we've had here in ages. Stick around, you can learn from your betters.

    Re: Sen. Durbin's Floor Statement Opposing Alberto (none / 0) (#17)
    by theologicus on Thu Feb 03, 2005 at 06:31:37 AM EST
    This is a fine statement. And it can be added that it is not the only one. Among others, Senator Kennedy, Senator Byrd, and Senator Reed all made distinguished speeches on the Senate floor. They remind us of the hopes we once had, and might still have, for America.

    [quote]Among others, Senator Kennedy, Senator Byrd, and Senator Reed all made distinguished speeches on the Senate floor.[/quote] Is there a new faction emerging?

    Ricky: I'll sure try harder in the future. Dont you worry yer pretty lil head.

    No fillibuster is required, as the elevation of this questionable individual is assured. It is nice to see so many eloquent statements and votes opposing it on the record.

    The Geneva Conventions will always apply whenever America goes to war against civilized countries like Canada or New Zealand or even France. But you can't expect the Geneva Conventions to apply to a bunch of heathen desert people who probably never heard of Geneva and don't know it's the capital of Austria.

    Nancy Jo- I'm really, really hoping that your post was tounge in cheek. On a similar note, I've died my index finger orange today. Of course, I've been eating cheetos.

    For all the "sky is falling" rhetoric, the Supreme Court - including those that 'gave' the election to Bush, have done their job well concerning Gonzalez' arguments. Democracy and freedom haven't failed. The sun still comes out of the east. And leftists wouldn't know a liberal if they...well, you know.

    Adept Havelock: I think she's being facetious. Everyone knows that Geneva is not the capital of any country and isn't in Austria.

    Yeah, just like everybody knows having an election in the ME is no more important than dipping your finger in a bag of cheetohs. Of course yer people who think Howard Dean is something other than a windy bag of Vermont dairy cow sheet and who got out of the draft pretending to have a bad back, poor baby. If he's a centrist then grits ain't groceries. Yeehaw, thats my gomer pyle impression for the day.

    %syn(Cool|Nice|Rulezz)% %syn(blog,|portal| site ! I)% hope to make %syn(my own|own weblog|my diary)%, not worse than yours ;)

    Gonzales as attorney-general. What a concept. Does anyone wonder why low level troops have a problem understanding that abusing prisoners may result in criminal prosecution? Gonzales ducked every question concerning whether certain types of punishment would be considered in violation of the Geneva Conventions or constitute abuse. Each time the question was avoided by referring to it as hypotheical or requiring too many conditions to permit a straight answer. Condi Rice took the same tact at her confirmation. How can our soldiers in the field be prosecuted for their actions as being clearly criminal when the top officials in our country make it seem that it is impossible to tell right form wrong.

    Hoorah for Sen. Durbin! And hoorah for Ted Kennedy (never thought I'd hear myself say that) but he has really been speaking the truth recently and voting the liberal conscience. I'm keeping my on Senator Joe Biden - I see great things on the horizon coming from him - could he be the next nominee? He'd certainly get my vote (since we can't have Dean that is).

    Re: Sen. Durbin's Floor Statement Opposing Alberto (none / 0) (#29)
    by Ed Drone on Thu Feb 03, 2005 at 01:25:01 PM EST
    The thing I note about Gonzalez is that he "made it" the way far too many have "made it" -- by attaching himself to a rich, powerful white man, and never contradicting the boss. I mean, even worse than okaying torture is the idea that if the President wants it done, it has to be done. That there is some Divine Right at work that makes that office off-limits to, well, limits. That's the scary part. Ed

    It's understandable that mistakes where made after the attacks of 9/11, but trying to spin it that there was nothing wrong with these actions is really the most evil aspect of this incident. These are the same people that want us to have morals and fight for freedom and this is the best candidate that can be found for AG, is this irony lost on all the 51%.

    Re: Sen. Durbin's Floor Statement Opposing Alberto (none / 0) (#32)
    by Jlvngstn on Thu Feb 03, 2005 at 02:05:07 PM EST
    "never contradicting a rich powerful white boss", How in the heck would you know that? Were you with him throughout his career at all of his meetings? How do you know if Gonzalez really believes in what he wrote? Do you believe Dershowitz is kissing up to Bush when he says "torture should be considered"? I don't like the letter but those types of allegations are ridiculous.

    Though I too applaud Senator Durbin's remarks, I am not happy at all with what Senator Biden said at the end of his own remarks during the Senate Committee's confirmation hearings; after appropriately taking Gonzales to task for his complicity in the torture at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo, Biden concluded most inappropriately by patting Gonzales on the back with declarations of "love" for him and his being a great guy. Come on: short of "love thy enemy," one does not commend a nominee for attorney general for repeatedly breaking international law or trying to get around both international and domestic laws. Gonzales is the opposite of a positive role model for this country. His confirmation will open the flood gates to further injustices and breaches of civil and human rights in this country and abroad. Here's a link of value: NCADP (National Coalition Against the Death Penalty)--also on record as opposing Gonzales' nomination--provides background on Gonzales.

    "...is this irony lost on all the 51%." This "51%" NONSENSE is the stupidest marketing concept yet. There ain't 51% of nothing. The opposition to Bush is HUGE. We just elected Kerry in a landslide, but we don't have a legal method of voting (for five years now). 1999. That's when some rightwing companies with names like Diebold somehow got SecStates in lots of places to allow them to TAKE AWAY THE PAPER TRAIL-- for the first time since 1787 and the signing of the Constitution. No one should accept elections which can't be recounted. "Take our word for it" is NOT democracy. It's just more of Bush's demockery. • We CAUGHT Triad in Ohio changing out the boards in their counting computers in December to foil the legally-ordered recount. • We caught them giving the officials falsified numbers to be given to the recounters REGARDLESS of what the machines said on the day of the recount!! And that recount was never allowed to take place. And that's not news, folks...because absurd controversies about stuffed heads like Dick Rather or Jim Brokaw say there's nothing to worry about, so shut up. The FBI just declined to investigate. Say what? Bush didn't win Ohio. 28 states and something like 80% of the voters in the country were forced to vote this time--like they have every time since 1999--without a recount right. That has never happened before in our history. It's a supernova. And that's not news? Let's lose this 51% mallarky. What they're doing is inherently illegal, because our voting rights have been subverted. It's not like there isn't a name for that. And it is surely not "51%".