US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced his resignation this morning, effective September 17th. The Attorney General has been under pressure for years, starting with interrogation techniques and finally culminating in the firing of US attorneys. Was Alberto Gonzales a villain? Was he a man in a job that he was unqualified for? Was Alberto Gonzales the victim of a rabid Democratic Congress that found him an easy target? Or was he the victim of an Administration that had gotten too smug and refused to explain things to the American public?
Gonzales was for the first part of his career, the epitome of the American Dream. Born of Immigrant parents in San Antonio, and a product of public schooling, Gonzales attended Rice University, Harvard School of Law and the United States Air Force Academy. He served on the Texas Supreme Court before being picked as White House Counsel and finally US Attorney General.
A villain, I think not. Alberto Gonzales has never done anything illegal to benefit himself. Unqualified, if graduating from some of the top schools in the country and being a state supreme court justice isn’t enough for your resume, I don’t know what else is. A victim, not really. He was attacked by the Democrats because he seems to have a problem communicating. Not good for an Attorney General, but not a crime. Yes, the House was very enthusiastic of its’ persecution of the Attorney General, and the White House sometimes feels it doesn’t have to answer to anyone, but the problem was with the Attorney General himself. Instead of giving evasive answers, he should have stated fact. The fact was that some of the questions asked could only have been answered by revealing information that had not yet been declassified. That he would happily answer questions behind closed doors to those that were cleared for the information.
I don’t know how Alberto Gonzales got up each morning, knowing how he was going to be persecuted when he got into the office, but I say to him, thank you for your service … I wouldn’t have wanted your job.
Symbolically, Gonzales should have left on the 16th of September instead of the 17th. That is after all Mexican Independence Day, and he is finally free of Washington DC.
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Gonzales was for the first part of his career, the epitome of the American Dream. Born of Immigrant parents in San Antonio, and a product of public schooling, Gonzales attended Rice University, Harvard School of Law and the United States Air Force Academy. He served on the Texas Supreme Court before being picked as White House Counsel and finally US Attorney General.
A villain, I think not. Alberto Gonzales has never done anything illegal to benefit himself. Unqualified, if graduating from some of the top schools in the country and being a state supreme court justice isn’t enough for your resume, I don’t know what else is. A victim, not really. He was attacked by the Democrats because he seems to have a problem communicating. Not good for an Attorney General, but not a crime. Yes, the House was very enthusiastic of its’ persecution of the Attorney General, and the White House sometimes feels it doesn’t have to answer to anyone, but the problem was with the Attorney General himself. Instead of giving evasive answers, he should have stated fact. The fact was that some of the questions asked could only have been answered by revealing information that had not yet been declassified. That he would happily answer questions behind closed doors to those that were cleared for the information.
I don’t know how Alberto Gonzales got up each morning, knowing how he was going to be persecuted when he got into the office, but I say to him, thank you for your service … I wouldn’t have wanted your job.
Symbolically, Gonzales should have left on the 16th of September instead of the 17th. That is after all Mexican Independence Day, and he is finally free of Washington DC.
15 comments:
As usual, I agree w/ your post.
terri ... as usual you are correct
Adios Alberto
Our Number One Law Enforcement was becoming a distraction [for the president and for the rest of the GOP candidates running for office in 2008]. He was asked to resign by every DEM politician. He was asked to resign by several GOP senior members.
I was expecting him to run the clock on the DEM team [driving them crazy], but it was not to happen. Attorney-Gate is not over. The hunter-killer operations by part of the incompetent DEM congress will continue.
A sad ending for our first Hispanic Attorney General, quitting during Hispanic Heritage Month [9/15/07 to 10/15/07].
cfs
Typo on my last comment [1st sentence]
Should read "Our Number One Law Enforcement OFFICER was becoming ....."
Have a fine TEXAS evening !!!
cfs
Paul,
We have one left and looking at some of the money that has been granted to 3rd world countries lately, Im wondering when this is going to hit the headlines??? We gave weapons to abbas in Gaza just prior to the civil war Hamas and Fatah,,,,Against, I might add, Israel's recommendation..Hamas got all weapons to use against Israel. now giving abbas money to train their people......again to fight against Israel. Maybe, I'm not reading this right, but some things do not make sense.
This was an excellent post on one of America's finest...Attorney General's. I admire him greatly for his steadfastness, tenacity and loyality to our president. I feel that this is a man of integrity who did not belittle himself by using the race card, which has been so useful for members of our congress and other political figures in the past.
Via condeos Amigo.....Excellent post....I ramble....stay well....
He was qualified to do a good job and could have-had he and Bush known how to handle PR. Public Relations is not Bush or any of his people's strong points. They let themselves get beat up. I am sick of it. Oh, well. It could've been worse. It could've been Al Gore or John Kerry!
I would not have wanted his job either! He was a piss poor communicator, but likeyou said nota fucking idiot or criminal!
All I have to say is, is about damned time!
Gonzales had no problem communicating. He is a lawyer. He just kept things on the low down.
I think we are watching an Administration slowly falling apart in the 11th hour. By the end of this thing, Bush will be standing alone.
That's ok. It shows his resolve to never give up no matter how bad it gets.
That's a president to me!
I like the way the LIBS say this is Attorney-Gate.
It's far from criminal!
The Dems are grabbing at straws now trying to stay above water in Congress. Expect a change very soon.
tlrb ... what will Congress do now that Alberto is gone? Maybe they can start doing the people's business ... nah, what am I thinking? They will just move on to the next one on the list ... Michael Chertoff.
tapline ... you bring up a good point. I don't ever remember him bringing up the race card at all. Neither has Condi Rice come to think of it. It must be a Republican thing.
david ... public relations not being a strong point of this administration is quite an understatement. Funny thing is when GWB was governor of Texas, almost everyone liked him. He probably never needed PR before he got to DC.
jenny ... Right now I wouldn't want any job in the administration. It's like they are walking around with big targets on their backs and the Congressional snipers are just firing away. They spend more time answering questions then they get to actually accomplish anything.
blanco ... absolutely, he was becoming a major source of wasted time by both the Congress and Dept of Justice. With him gone, maybe more can get done.
mikem ... I do think the Dems have blown their chance. The People put them in charge and they have ... done nothing .
Another great post, Paul.
Thank you terry, I try.
Maybe if we left them alone and they could do their jobs more effectively instead of answering questions all the damn time about shit!
Paul,
I really like your view on this. I felt really sorry for him as a person. He def did not have an easy time of it.
--snow
jenny ... it would be if your boss and his bosses called you in to question everything you did every day. How would you accomplish anything? How would you feel about going into work every day? And how would you get any blogging in?
snow ... I think Congress has a hit list of who they are going after next. I expect better of my elected officials and judging by Congress's approval ratings ... so do most Americans.
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