Posted on 03/21/2007 4:21:43 AM PDT by theothercheek
On the heels of the Senate’s 94-2 vote to pass a bill voiding a provision in the Patriot Act that allowed the attorney general to appoint U.S. attorneys without Senate confirmation Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) called for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign. Reports KDVR-Fox 31 (Denver):
"Gonzales' legacy at the DOJ has been one of misplaced priorities, political miscalculation, and a failure to enforce the laws which he has sworn to uphold," he said. "I think that it is time for him to move on."
Tancredo faulted several Justice Department decisions dealing with border crimes, including the prosecution of two border patrol agents for shooting a Mexican drug smuggler and trying to cover it up.
Tancredo said Gonzales should have overturned local and state "sanctuary" policies, which Tancredo said allow people to help illegal immigrants avoid deportation.
Tancredo also said Gonzales should have gotten tough on nations that resist U.S. attempts to return foreigners who have broken U.S. laws.
Tancredo won’t get an argument on any of this from The Stiletto. However there is a more compelling reason than failure to enforce immigration laws to get rid of Gonzales: His utter indifference towards Sandy Berger’s theft and destruction of documents pertaining to 9/11 from the National Archives and Records Administration.
According to The Washington Post, Paul Brachfeld, inspector general of the National Archives, "wanted the Justice Department to notify officials of the 9/11 Commission that Berger's actions - in combination with a bungled Archives response - might have obstructed the commission's review of Clinton's terrorism policies."
According to the WaPo:
The Justice Department spurned the advice … But more than three years later, as Brachfeld and House lawmakers have pushed new details about Berger's actions onto the public record -- such as Berger's use of a construction site near the Archives to temporarily hide some of the classified documents - Brachfeld's contentions have attracted fresh support.
A [January report] by the Republican staff of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said for the first time that Berger's visits were so badly mishandled that Archives officials had acknowledged not knowing if he removed anything else and destroyed it. …
[Philip Zelikow, the commission's former executive director] said in an interview … "I think all of my colleagues would have wanted to have all the information at the time that we learned from the congressional report, because that would have triggered … questions we could have posed to Berger under oath." …
Brachfeld pressed Justice Department officials on six occasions in 2004 to make a fuller statement to the commission about Berger's actions, to no avail. He also contacted Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine, who organized an April 2004 meeting between Brachfeld and Justice officials that convinced him that "these issues had to go before the 9/11 Commission," according to two people present. …
[W]ell after Berger testified to the commission, "the Department had not yet asked Mr. Berger any questions, as he had not yet agreed to an interview." …
Judge Deborah A. Robinson imposed a stiffer penalty in the case than the Justice Department sought, fining Berger a total of $56,905, canceling his security clearance, and requiring monthly reporting to a probation officer for two years.
Columnist Michael Barone points out that, "Some of these documents may have been unique and may have contained handwritten comments that could have looked bad in light of what happened on September 11." Then he asks the $64K question: "Did Bill Clinton ask him to destroy documents that would make him look bad in history? I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach when I ask that question. But this or something very much like it seems to be the only explanation that makes sense."
To be sure, most of the screw-ups and shoulder shrugging at DOJ predates Gonzales’ tenure. But he could have turned the heat up on Berger from Day One for a full accounting – for instance, why he destroyed multiple copies of the same document - instead of allowing him to plead guilty to a misdemeanor in April 2005, and get off with a slap on the wrist. Thanks to Gonzales, the American people, the 9/11 Commission and historians as yet unborn will never know the whole truth about 9/11 and the Clinton Administration’s failure to recognize the grave and gathering threat stalking the U.S.
For that alone, Gonzales must go.
NOTE: In case I did not put all the links in correctly, please see the original source.
Nonsense. Many of us have been calling for the disgraceful Gonzales to be canned over the border agents and "Dog" Chapman treachery for nearly a year. It sucks that he will be gone over this stupid non-scandal. But Bush had plenty of time to do it and failed.
As I recall, the vast majority of opinion on FR at the time agreed with that sentiment.
Dittos on your comments. I'm a Tancredo fan, and agree that it's past time for Gonzales to go; but, not because the 'rats call for his resignation and run him off. If possible, I would keep him and weather the current storm and then can him. He's proved absolutely incompetent, without initiative, and a boob; but, again, I wouldn't let the 'rats run him off. Of course, GW won't do that, his silly a$$ "compassion" won't allow him to do so. And, he's never going to learn that he can't have "compassion" where this current crop of 'rats is concerned.
That was Bush's master plan all along. At least that was thwarted, thank goodness. The only good news to come from all this crap.
That's the point, you DON'T cave to Democrats and empower them.
As I recall, the vast majority of opinion on FR at the time agreed with that sentiment.
Unfortunately, Bush doesn't consult FR. Rudy won't either.
Shut up Tancredo....It's not your call.....You look like an irrelevant idiot. Oh wait,.........ur
If possible, I would keep him and weather the current storm and then can him.
I think that's what I'd do if I were in Bush's shoes as well.
Who was that?..
The firings ARE a non-issue. But laudable as your examples are, they pale in comparison to Gonzales' failure to the 9/11 victims and their families, to Americans and to history not to have gone after Berger hammer and tong to find out what was in those documents he destroyed - and to punish him severely for this monumental breach of national security while our young men and women are dying abroad. Since Bush was too spineless to get rid of him - and stupid enough to have appointed him to this position in the first place - I don't much care what the reason is for getting rid of him. Let the Dems think it's because of them. Maybe the next guy will do his job and re-open the Berger investigation - and then the Dems will be sorry they made a BFD over 8 little firings. They can't see past their noses, so they don't see the potential pitfalls of not having an incompetent RINO in the AG office anymore.
I agree on your point about appearances,but Gonzales should have never been appointed in the first place.
"There is some big ole secret everybody is trying to hide by covering eachothers butts, both dems and republicans. It is a slap in the face to ALL OF US! We have people coming into this country at will, with the you can't touch me attitude. We have officials STEALING classified documents while we are involved in a war. Documents that directly have to do with the WAR and nothing happens. WTF is going on here!?! I am beyond insulted that these effin' idiots think I am too stupid to see the writing on the wall. I am disgusted at the fact that these elitist trash the constitution and treat all of us as peons, with no recourse. I am enraged that my goverment, the goverment OF THE PEOPLE are expected to sit back and keep our mouths shut while our country is being sold out!! Gee, nothing like starting the day totally pissed off."
You've expressed exactly what I'm thinking and feeling. The "big ole secret" is the North American Union under the new world order.
I agree with your sentiment and Bush unfortunately marches to the North American Union drum rather than upholding the Constitution, as does his AG.
Gonzales is an example of the "rainbow coalition" approach to gov't management vs. appointments based on competence and merit. Run him out of town; good riddance.
Sorry if I'm not thinking like a Republican, folks. Thought I'd think like an American instead.
After the Harriet Miers debacle on SCOTUS, Bush could have floated Darryl Strawberry for AG and it would've looked like a good pick.
Gonzales, it turns out, is just another weak sister. After replacing Rumsfeld with Gates, I don't have a lot of confidence at this point in who the WH would pick to replace him, so I'm on the fence whether or not he should go. They may as well fire everyone in the cabinet and appoint James Baker as Secretary of Everything. But I digress...
I hope W keeps up the tone he's taken on subpoenaes, but I won't hold my breath. The last thing we need is the Congressional Circus to turn this into Custer's Last Stand. If Bush holds his ground, they can be defanged, at least in the short term.
If 41 thought he could get away with it, he probably would have....
Well some of them actually know what they are talking about. Gonzales is a disaster and should have never been appointed. Get off you kneees GW, is not the Savior.
"Sorry if I'm not thinking like a Republican, folks. Thought I'd think like an American instead."
No need to apologize for thinking about our Constitution rather than personal power and gain.
my opinion is no different
my point is, if this joker is inept, bush should have got rid of him, and not let the dems do his dirty work
what does it show to lose gonzo now?
that bush is not a conservative - it was the dems who removed gonzo, and bush would have kept him forever
that bush is spineless - he caved like osama
bush, to demonstrate his conservative principles, would have long ago set gonzo loose
his caving to the dems is like spain running from al qaeda
weak, pathetic, dangerous to the rest of us
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