Who cares about Gonzales and 8 people? For one, I do. The fact is that Gonzales has always been a liar making excuses for despotic policy and finally it is getting some press over one particular issue.
He now says things like "I do not recall, Senator," but it is exactly what he said many times during his confirmation. Go back to January 8th, 2005 during his confirmation hearings...
St Petersburg Times
At his Senate confirmation hearing this week, Alberto Gonzales assured senators that he understood the difference between the role he has played as White House counsel and the one he would play as U.S. attorney general. "I will no longer represent only the White House," Gonzales said. "I will represent the United States of America and its people."
After seven hours of testimony and pointed questions, it seemed clear that he doesn't understand the difference at all. Gonzales' time before the Senate Judiciary Committee was spent refusing to answer direct questions, being evasive, conveniently losing his memory regarding key events, averting responsibility for controversial legal judgments that he had sought and supported, and generally failing to demonstrate any independence from the White House.
If confirmed as attorney general, which he no doubt will be, Gonzales will bear close watching. He may not be as ideologically driven as John Ashcroft, but his lapdog loyalty to the president offers little reason to believe he will disturb business as usual in this administration. That means the government will continue to hold foreign prisoners without due process, distort the reading of the Geneva Conventions, and justify the use of abusive (but ostensibly not torturous) interrogation methods - all actions that already have eroded this country's moral authority and put our own soldiers' safety at risk.
Both Republican and Democratic senators seemed frustrated at Gonzales' lack of candor and cooperation. Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., bluntly told Gonzales: "We're looking for you, when we ask you questions, to give us an answer, which you haven't done yet."
http://www.onlisareinsradar.com/archives/002387.phpHe was still confirmed 60-36-4 by a runaway Republican-controlled Senate and note that some Democrats are on the list, too, in confirming him. Lieberman is an example and Lieberman must be held accountable for his bad decision:
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00003When liars like Gonzales give this "I do not recall, Senator" excuse over and over, what should Senators say? They should say "Well, then you are not mentally competent and cannot have the job." The "I do not recall, Senator" comments are clearly an accountability test. It is a statement that the person saying it does not need to be held accountable, because they do not remember what they did. And those buying it as an excuse for wrongdoing, do not understand that the wrongdoing itself is wrong, regardless of whether someone allegedly has forgotten about it.
So, now that Democrats have some power to subpoena, will there finally be some accountability? This is not just a test of Gonzales or the Bush Administration because it is a test of our very government. Is
it competent? Can
it recall all its own history, including bad confirmations and other major mistakes? Will
it do something about it?
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