This crowd has a short memory
Posted on 04/16/2007 4:05:32 PM PDT by kellynla
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 G.O.P. direct mail expert and fundraiser; and 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-profit
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
You are right. It is a sign of weakness.
But as long as it’s clear that he’s firing the bloody idiot because he’s an incompetent fool, then by all means fire him.
That will never be clear to your enemies. No matter what you say, they will conclude that their attacks were successful, and they will be emboldened to go after someone else.
It may be true that Gonzales should not have been appointed AG in the first place. But he was, and he is now under attack by the Democrats. This is not the time to go wobbly. Unless Gonzales broke the law, President Bush should wait until the hubbub dies down before asking for his resignation.
Oh, and the "conservatives" who want Gonzales to be fired are doing nothing to help the situation. They should shut up, at least in public.
Gonzales is WORSE!
His record on civil rights, FISA, and national security letters are such that he provides a very comfortable issue to run against.
Lets face it, the excessive claims that this man has promoted are now longer viable considering the facts.
Two Months Before 9/11, an Urgent Warning to Rice
France warned CIA of hijack plot in 2001
And then the http://www.dougfeith.com/ rush to war.
While the argument persists that we are standing up an IRAQI government, the Cabinet ministers loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr quit the government Monday.
If Gonzales resigns, it at least allows REASONABLE republicans to conclude that there is a 'reality based' approach to national security, rule of law, and administrative stability.
The wheels are coming off and it is as if the driver seems unaware that there is an election looming.
The assesment of the paleocons is this, don't wait until the day after the election to make a change.
NO!!!!!!!!
Time to put the country and genuine conservative values FIRST!
I'm sorry. I didnt mean that. I'm feeling a bit ill today. ;-)
No surprise you’d side with the Democrats against the President. You’re probably one of the biggest callers for impeachment.
This crowd has a short memory
Restore? As if they ever had such a right before!
So a group of conservatives are calling for a man to be fired because of the suspicion of partisan politics? Oh well, I see Bob Barr's name and run the other way.
Gonzales and the DOJ lost my support with the way they’ve handled Left wingers who are highly suspect in questionable dealings. Look at Papercut Sandy Burglar getting a slap on the wrist. Can anyone begin to imagine if a Republican Lawyer had done that for Bush or any other Republican Politician what would have taken place?
The only response your inane remarks warrant is my tagline.
Fein, Keene, Viguerie, and Barr. Says it all.
I wouldn’t give these characters the sweat off my armpits or anywhere else.
Don’t bend to them, George W.! Fire Gonzo at some time when it doesn’t appear you’re bowing to the Democrats and Specter.
Please.
Yup, all those judges he nominated. Bad choices every one. Janice Rogers Brown, Alito, Roberts, and assorted other circuit judges.......all bad choices.
I would agree with you that Bush should not fire Gonzalez if he had the sense God gave a goat. It was my first reaction, even though I said I thought he was a bad appointment.
But Gonzalez just keeps stepping in it at every turn. He just can’t take the heat, and it shows. He doesn’t even have enough sense to keep his mouth shut and let his lawyers speak for him.
How can you face down Nostrils if Gonzalez gives him new ammunition every day?
he’s a personal friend of the president.
so, i doubt that he will resign.
nor, do i think he should resign.
imo the problem with this administration is bending over for its critics.
By folding to the Democrats?
Precisely which genuine conservative values would be advanced by dumping Gonzales at this point?
Gonzales should do the honorable thing and resign.
You have a point. President Bush should tell Mr. Gonzales to shut up. And he should fire him as soon as possible after this so-called scandal dies down.
Of course, Gonzales should be fired immediately if he broke the law. But if he is clean, it will only make the administration look guilty by firing him now.
Either way, the administration must make the point that political appointees serve at the president's pleasure, and that nothing improper was done in firing the U.S. attorneys. I would advise the president to go on the offensive against the Democrats, accusing them of violating the Constitutional separation of powers.
Unless that is done, it may not matter what happens to Gonzales. He is not the real target; the president is.
Whatever. . .but the political ‘bad’ outweighs the political good should he be let go. . .
That this big to-do over Gonzalez and the US attorney firings (which BTW the populous doesn't give a one crap about) is really about throwing a wrench into the next SCOTUS appointment of the President, of which 1) Gonzo would be deeply involved, and 2) to corrupt the image of the President as someone who is objective in judicial appointments.
Perhaps the Dems know we're gonna have a new SCOTUS vacancy around the corner?..Hmmm..
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