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 ...
He certainly should resign. Not only has he given three different (and contradictory) versions of his role in this matter but he’s enabling the Dems to produce another show trial.
In my opinion, he never should have been appointed in the first place. As a chief federal law enforcer he’s aided and abetted the foreign illegal alien invasion, throwing the burden on states which don’t have the resources to effectively protect themselves.
He should go back to Texas and work with another Bush buddy, Johnny Sutton, to see if they can harass and persecute more Border Agents like Ramos. And maybe in his retirement he can study Article IV., Section 4 of the Constitution:
“The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion.”
Of course. This is the plan by democrats. Non-stop political assassinations of Bush and other Republicans. Waxman is going to hold never-ending show trials from now until '08. Yet another reason I just don't understand the wimpiness of conservatives. Do they enjoy having their reputations ruined? Do they relish being forced to resign? By giving in even a tiny bit to the democrats they signalled total capitulation. Liberals play for keeps.
It will never be made clear.
What will be made clear is that the Demrats were right. . .and they 'got him'. . .and then we only have to wait as long as an 'inhale' before they move on to their next target in their 'search and destroy' misson of Bush and entire Administration. . .while using each success against all future Repub candidates as well.
acknowlage reality, drop the ‘war on terror’ and start discussing a ‘humanitarian effort’ go to the Bob Dole playbook of concensus building instead of groupthink.
we need to focus support with the Sec Def and to stabilize some poorly implimented plans.
we need to drop the politics and focus on solutions as pragmatists.
I heard Bob Doles comments on the VA today, and found it vastly different than the hubris and arrogance that we are accustomed to, Gates very well spoken, and I find it irritating that at this late date a ‘bad call’, ‘faulty intel’, ‘toutered definitions of torture’, has taken us from the point where once upon a time Bob Dole offered Milosovec a deal to advert a humanitarian crisis, where we were the liberators and the good guys, and our image was untarnished as a nation.
we tried it the way the neoconservatives advocated it, and there is alot at stake in the M.E. and that is precisely why the antics are no longer acceptable.
there needs to be new faces, new ideas, and new language to move this nation forward, as an example catch Gov. Swarz of CA at the Georgetown Unniv.
I’m tired of the amnesia of facts, responsibility, cause and affect, and the amnesia of history.
We need a national effort behind Gates and new leadership to stabilize the humanitarian crisis that has been created and I’m tired of these pimps of discredited verbiage and ideas making that difficult.
And to sum things up.. the political unwillingness to fund the VA, as a simple acknowledgement of the fact that the war has exceeded its budget, the simple act of reality, without the politics seems to be beyond the capability of the current crowd.
Yes the paleocons are fed up, some more gracious (as always) than others.. we need the old guard republicans to step up and STOP MAKING excuses and start some new initiatives and ideas for solutions.
On human rights alone, GONZO should go.. our protestations to Russia sound weak as long as that buffon is in office.
As a republican I’m embarrased, as an American I’m concerned and advocate change.
He nominated them, but it was the then Republican Senate that confirmed them. Bush picked the incompetent types to work for him.
I asked you which conservative principles would be advanced by folding to the Democrats and dumping Gonzales. You responded by mentioning Bob Dole, the VA, Milosevic, the Secretary of Defense, foreign policy, the war in Iraq, etc. I do not see how those things relate to the firing of the U.S. attorneys, which is the ostensible reason for the Gonzales "scandal".
By the way, to "drop politics and focus on solutions as pragmatists" is a sure loser. It is all about politics. If the Left proves better at politics than we are, then "genuine conservative values" will be lost.
Getting rid of Gonzalez may seem an attractive proposition but can you imagine the sort of Attorney General that this Senate will confirm? I guess we can count on Sen. Arlen Specter to make sure a stalwart conservative makes it through the confirmation process. (IS a “SARCASM” Warining necessary here, or is it obvious?)
like Rummy and Cheney?
“Gonzo should have never been hired. He & Jorge have refused to do the jobs they were paid & swore to do which was & is to enforce the immigration laws of this country. And instead of coming forward and saying that the POTUS has the right to fire & hire any and all of the U.S. attorneys they choose; like the geldings they are; they apologize? What a couple of wimps! November, 2008 won’t come soon enough for me...now if we only had a CONSERVATIVE with a set to vote for!”
“gutless lynch mob?”
Well, I believe Bush should not have even have hired Gonzo and because he has FAILED MISERABLY to enforce the immigration laws; he should be FIRED.
The only “gutless” bunch I see is the Bush Administration.
But you keep “carrying the water” for them.
The President through the Attorney General can fire these people whether there’s political motives or not.
Gonzales had the power to get rid of the U.S. Attorneys
Of course.
So why has Alberto been going to such lengths to distance himself from the decision? Why point the finger everywhere else?
I think that the AG has done a horrible job.
I think where we really disagree is in your assumption that Republicans should support Gonzales for no other reason than bipartisn reasons, which I do not.
Good republicans put country first and party second.
Lets hear what he has to say Thursday, but really what we have is an ogoing amnesia about his decisions and job performance, some would call it perjury, I do.
To paraphrase the article it is "Clintonesque" to assume otherwise.
And clintonesque is to quibble...
I think he should be impeached and disallowed the opportunity to resign as attorney general, and then count the silverware.
There are lots of Republicans tired of carrying the water of these fools and their poor behavior.
No where is competence and integrity required when an (R) proceeds the name with a few.
These are the types where drinking the kooolaid is a church activity of (R).
Gonzales lied and stating it elsewise is evading that fact.
Once uon a time democrats were notorious for bold-faced lying, now I see for a few it is a virtue of the right.
Some still call lying perjury
What is there ultimately to be ashamed of? I don’t feel like anyone knew how to handle things properly in the first place.
Just say thank you, goodbye and replace them.
So Time went out trolling for a group to support their pre-conceived opinion. They found one..."a recently formed body." This is not a new technique for Time.
Time also goes to "Catholics for Choice" to get opinions on abortion (a group that is lead by a non-Catholic and is not endorsed by the Catholic church).
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