The travails of George Bush and his Attorney-General, Alberto Gonzales, just keep getting worse. Remember, Georges' "mate" from Texas was the intellectual pygmy who advised President Shrub that the US didn't haven't to adhere to the Geneva Convention and that legislation dealing with the imprisonment and treatment of prisoners was perfectly fine. As we all now know, the US Supreme Court clearly thought otherwise.
Now, Gonzales, the White House and the GOP are facing a critical issue, in many ways mirroring the actions of the Tricky Dicky Nixon, of US prosecutors having having been removed or sidelined because their actions did not accord with whatever agenda the Bush team had.
Gonzales was called to testify to a Senate committee last week. The Economist reports on the appearance and questions whether Gonzales was either manipulative or clueless:
"Manipulative or clueless? Alberto Gonzales, America’s top legal officer, had to hold his hand up to one of these failings when he testified before the Senate judiciary committee on Thursday April 19th. He chose cluelessness, possibly the safer route, in describing his role in the firing of eight government prosecutors. The affair has been growing ever more intense. Democrats and many Republicans say an important branch of government, the Department of Justice, has been subverted for the sake of political gain. Mr Gonzales is being held responsible.
The attorneys are the federal government’s chief prosecutors in 93 districts across the country, and have considerable power and discretion in pursuing cases. When eight were fired in December 2006, several cases looked suspicious. Mr Gonzales, speaking for the Bush administration, first claimed that they were fired for poor performance. All, however, had received strong performance reviews. Then a more convincing reason was offered: “policy differences”. But as details have emerged of the cases, it seems they were fired because they declined to pursue nakedly partisan agendas."
Now, Gonzales, the White House and the GOP are facing a critical issue, in many ways mirroring the actions of the Tricky Dicky Nixon, of US prosecutors having having been removed or sidelined because their actions did not accord with whatever agenda the Bush team had.
Gonzales was called to testify to a Senate committee last week. The Economist reports on the appearance and questions whether Gonzales was either manipulative or clueless:
"Manipulative or clueless? Alberto Gonzales, America’s top legal officer, had to hold his hand up to one of these failings when he testified before the Senate judiciary committee on Thursday April 19th. He chose cluelessness, possibly the safer route, in describing his role in the firing of eight government prosecutors. The affair has been growing ever more intense. Democrats and many Republicans say an important branch of government, the Department of Justice, has been subverted for the sake of political gain. Mr Gonzales is being held responsible.
The attorneys are the federal government’s chief prosecutors in 93 districts across the country, and have considerable power and discretion in pursuing cases. When eight were fired in December 2006, several cases looked suspicious. Mr Gonzales, speaking for the Bush administration, first claimed that they were fired for poor performance. All, however, had received strong performance reviews. Then a more convincing reason was offered: “policy differences”. But as details have emerged of the cases, it seems they were fired because they declined to pursue nakedly partisan agendas."
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