Gonzales testifies; Bush cites al Qaeda 95 times in a speech

While Alberto Gonzales was, again, refusing to answer vital questions about the US attorney firings, what really happened at Ashcroft's hospital bedside, (C&L has the video) and insisting on dancing around the issue of torture in front of the senate judiciary committee today, his partner in crime, George Bush, gave a speech in which he referred to al Qaeda 95 times. "Al Qaeda is in Iraq and they're there for a reason," Bush said. Well, yes, they're there because you decided to illegally invade Iraq and invited them with your "bring 'em on" macho posturing.

And, as usual, Bush tried hard (it's hard work) to make the imaginary, debunked connection between 9/11 and al Qaeda in Iraq:

"I presented intelligence that clearly establishes this connection," said Bush. "The facts are that al Qaeda terrorists killed Americans on 9/11, they're fighting us in Iraq and across the world, and they're plotting to kill Americans here at home again."

Terror, terror, terror - but it's the same old story and certainly didn't stop the press from reporting on Gonzales' shady testimony.

Senators from both sides of the aisle attacked Gonzales:

"The attorney general has lost the confidence of the Congress and the American people," Leahy said. He said the administration "has squandered our trust" and told Gonzales bluntly, "I don't trust you."

Specter said there was "evidence of low morale" at the Justice Department and blasted what he described as Gonzales's lack of "personal credibility." He called the department "dysfunctional."

I imagine that what they're saying when the mics are off is much more scathing than that.

And the wrangling over the US attorney firings continues:

Gonzales again depicted himself as largely detached from controversial personnel practices, including the firings of the nine U.S. attorneys last year. But in a video message to Justice Department employees on Friday, he said, "I am sorry, and I accept full responsibility."

But that's the nature of most, if not all, of his answers - constantly contradicting himself. If he bobbed and weaved physically as much as he did verbally today, he would have collapsed from sheer exhaustion halfway through the hearings.

With his legal advisors in tow, sitting right behind him throughout the hearing, I got the sense I was watching a mob boss testifying. That's not much of a stretch considering the lengths Gonzales has gone to try to stretch and obfuscate national and international laws. And, even though he insists he's determined to stay on and "fix" the problems in the justice department (to which one senator responded that at least he's admitting there are problems), the best thing for all sane and law-abiding people involved would be to impeach the bastard and find someone who actually believes that the law isn't a partisan, political tool. Not an easy job in DC but, at this point, they couldn't do that much worse than the lying attorney general they have now. His arrogance knows no bounds and his disrespect for the law and international treaties out to be enough to disbar him for life.

CSPAN has the video of today's hearing.

Update: Code Pink was on hand at the hearings to protest against Gonzales. You can see a video of that protest here.
 

Gonzales Under Fire

Having sat through and liveblogged Alberto Gonzales' confirmation hearings, watching a man at that time who made it a point to appear soft-spoken and congenial in order to impress those who would ultimately be responsible for giving him the job of US attorney general, I have to note that the Gonzales' persona I'm witnessing today in front of the senate judiciary committee is one of a desperate but still egotistical man - crossed arms, raised voice, quick talking, combative, defensive, sticking to his belief that all of the US attorneys who have been fired should have been regardless of what anyone else thinks.

He has only one thing going for him: the fact that Bush will most likely keep him on until the end of his term, no matter what. He's The Decider™, after all. It seems that unless Gonzales can be nailed for perjury, he has a get out of the hearings free card, despite the fact that numerous Republicans as well have already expressed the desire to throw him overboard - where he obviously belongs.

What's come out of the hearing thus far is the very strong opinion that even if there isn't any evidence of political motives for the attorneys' firings on Gonzales' part (and few believe there isn't), Gonzales' performance - the very thing he claims the attorneys were fired for - has been so incompetent and has so damaged the image of the justice department that he should resign for those reasons alone. Americans of every stripe have a very staunch belief in tradition and honour and both Democrats and Republicans on the committee have stated that Gonzales' behaviour has tarnished the office.

Gonzales' very questionable ethics and practices have been on view internationally since it was revealed that, as Bush's White House counsel, he found legal loopholes to justify torture. He should never have been confirmed as US Attorney General in the first place, but the Republicans and the president got their way. Those who voted for his confirmation share responsibility for what is happening today. As with so many decisions made when the Republicans controlled congress, necessitating major damage control and new investigations by the Democrats who now hold power, Gonzales' situation is endemic of the corruption inherent in narrow-minded partisan politics.

He's no scapegoat - he's a symbol of blind fealty to skewed political principles and is a reflection of the hubris and arrogance so in evidence since Bush became president: the trashing of the constitution, the refusal to comply with international treaties and courts, the sanctioning of secret kidnappings, prisons and torture practices, the belief that this administration is above the law - any law which doesn't suit its political purposes.

Bush knew exactly what he was doing when he nominated Gonzales - a man whose legal mind he has known since the days of his tenure as governor in Texas. Bush knew Gonzales would be his yes man - a person who would find ways to skirt laws to further Bush's agenda. He's not going to let go of him now. Unfortunately, today's hearings will serve as nothing but political theatre in the end. That's symbolic of the entire Bush presidency: the theatre of the absurd where the court jesters are the stars.

Related:

CSPAN has video archives and live coverage of the hearings.
Specter vs. Gonzales -- Round 1 (Video at Crooks and Liars.)
Gonzales Defends Actions on U.S. Attorney Firings
Gonzales: Criticism Damages DoJ Employees (Video of Dick Durbin's questioning of Gonzales.)
Video of Patrick Leahy's opening statement.
Gonzales' opening statement. (.pdf file)

More updates as they come in... by the way, I heard a reporter on CSPAN after the morning's testimony say that Gonzales said "I don't recall" 55 times. By the end of the day, I'm sure he'll have set a new world record.
 

Tuesday is 'Watch Gonzales Sweat" Day

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales (or, as I like to call him: the smirking asshole from hell) will be testifying before the senate judiciary committee on Tuesday. You can catch it live online on CSPAN.

Earlier this month, we learned that Gonzales was busy practicing his testimony for what he had referred to as an "overblown personnel matter." On the weekend, he put that practice to the test in a Washington Post editorial in which he declared he did "nothing improper" and has "nothing to hide". I imagine he actually believes that. Many people don't, however.

In what could prove an embarrassing new setback for embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on the eve of his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, a group of influential conservatives and longtime Bush supporters has written a letter to the White House to call for his resignation.

The two-page letter, written on stationery of the American Freedom Agenda, a recently formed body designed to promote conservative legal principles, is blunt. Addressed to both Bush and Gonzales, it goes well beyond the U.S. attorneys controversy and details other alleged failings by Gonzales. "Mr. Gonzales has presided over an unprecedented crippling of the Constitution's time-honored checks and balances," it declares. "He has brought rule of law into disrepute, and debased honesty as the coin of the realm." Alluding to ongoing scandal, it notes: "He has engendered the suspicion that partisan politics trumps evenhanded law enforcement in the Department of Justice."

The letter concludes by saying, "Attorney General Gonzales has proven an unsuitable steward of the law and should resign for the good of the country... The President should accept the resignation, and set a standard to which the wise and honest might repair in nominating a successor..." It is the first public demand by a group of conservatives for Gonzales' firing. Signatories to the letter include Bruce Fein, a former senior official in the Reagan Justice Department, who has worked frequently with current Administration and the Republican National Committee to promote Bush's court nominees; David Keene, chairman of the influential American Conservative Union, one of the nation's oldest and largest grassroots conservative groups, Richard Viguerie, a well-known GOP direct mail expert and fundraiser, Bob Barr, the former Republican congressman from Georgia and free speech advocate, as well as John Whitehead, head of the Rutherford Institute, a conservative non-forit[sic] active in fighting for what it calls religious freedoms.

I don't recall any of these "influential conservatives" calling for Gonzales' resignation after they found out that he wrote a legal opinion for Bush justifying torture. It seems this episode has proved to be sufficiently embarassing though that they felt the need to act. Twisted principles. What else is new?

Gonzales can't go soon enough.

Update: From the "guess who's reading this post?" file. It's the US Department of Justice.


You'd think that people at the DoJ would have something better to do today besides reading blog posts about their boss, considering that the biggest school massacre in US history happened this morning.

Update: Gonzales's testimony has been postponed until Thursday.