Remind me again who it is that hates our freedom?
What will it take to wipe that smirk off of AG Gonzalez’s face?
Gosh, I never thought I'd miss Attorney General John Ashcroft .. it just seems quaint now that he spent $8000 of taxpayer's money to cover up bare-breasted statues in the Justice Department because he was offended .. said he was fed up with having his picture taken in front of a giant semi-nude woman.
No one knows how offended the statues were .....
Yes, he was batty alright, but at least he was honest about it .. he never tried to be sneaky or tricky about his flakiness.
So just in case you missed it, here is your current Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee last Thursday .. being questioned about whether the US Constitution grants habeas corpus rights of a fair trial to every American.
"Responding to questions from Sen. Arlen Specter at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Jan. 18, Gonzales argued that the Constitution doesn’t explicitly bestow habeas corpus rights; it merely says when the so-called Great Writ can be suspended.[..]
GONZALES: There is no express grant of habeas in the Constitution. There is a prohibition against taking it away. But it's never been the case, and I'm not a Supreme --
SPECTER: Now, wait a minute. Wait a minute. The constitution says you can't take it away, except in the case of rebellion or invasion. Doesn't that mean you have the right of habeas corpus, unless there is an invasion or rebellion?
GONZALES: I meant by that comment, the Constitution doesn't say, "Every individual in the United States or every citizen is hereby granted or assured the right to habeas." It doesn't say that. It simply says the right of habeas corpus shall not be suspended except by --
SPECTER: You may be treading on your interdiction and violating common sense, Mr. Attorney General.[..]
I think "treading on your interdiction" is lawyer-talk for "about to step on your own dict."
There must be something wrong with our system if it allows such deceitful reinterpretation of the Constitution by the dang Attorney General.
Shame on the Congress that confirmed such a transparent lackey as Gonzales .. we suspected all along that his main function was/is to provide cover for Bush's loose interpretation of our Constitution. Bush probably considers him his personal attorney.
Another thing--now that Bush can no longer count on Congress to do his bidding, his administration is trying to protect itself by kicking out independent-minded prosecutors. In the last few weeks they've pushed out at least four US attorneys--and maybe as many as seven--without explanation.
US attorney Carol Lamfor was on that list .. she was the one who successfully prosecuted Duke Cunningham--a Republican congressman--on major corruption charges. The top FBI official in San Diego told The San Diego Union-Tribune that "Ms. Lam's dismissal would undermine multiple continuing investigations."
When the senators asked him about this, Gonzales refused to say how many other attorneys have been asked to resign .. calling it a "personnel matter."
Yeah right .. they are handpicking replacements for the upcoming investigation wars, stacking the deck with GOP friendly prosecutors so they can stonewall investigations into the Bush administration’s conduct. See, they can keep them there forever without the ordeal of Senate confirmation. How convenient.
Another interesting exchange took place between Gonzales and Ted Kennedy. Kennedy couldn’t get him to answer whether it is lawful to have Bush ASK Congress for permission to attack Iran. Gonzales never gave a straight answer .. kept dancing around this question no matter which way it was asked.
Brace yourselves Iranian people .. looks like we're gettin' ready to liberate the hell out of you.
