Impeach Gonzales? Oh You Betcha!

By me, it would not be overzealous if US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales were ridden out of Washington, DC on a rail. I personally would support tar and feathering the man, but that’s just a refinement and is not absolutely necessary. Alberto Remora Gonzales was George W. Bush’s Counsel before he replaced John Ashcroft as US Attorney General on February 3, 2005. Prior to becoming White House Counsel he had been appointed by Bush to the Texas Supreme Court. Bush even threw the Gonzales name in the air as a possible US Supreme Court nominee but that was quickly shot down. Alberto Gonzales is an asskissing sycophantic toady who owes the Bush administration his political life. In order to say thank you, Gonzales has circumvented the rule of law, supported every move the Bush administration has made to increase the powers of the president and he has allowed the White House to trample the Constitution. He also has lied under oath. On Sunday on the CBS News program “Face the Nation,” Senate Democrat from New York, Chuck Schumer said Mr. Gonzales was more interested in carrying out President Bush’s agenda than in upholding the law and protecting the rights of citizens. Schumer went on to say, “Attorney General Gonzales is a nice man but he either doesn’t accept or doesn’t understand that he is no longer just the president’s lawyer but has a higher obligation to the rule of law and the Constitution, even when the president should not want it to be so.” Gonzales, of course, is not a nice man. He’s a hooligan. The reason the shit has hit the fan is that now that the Dems are in the majority in the Senate and in the House of Representatives, they have subpoena power and they are initiating investigations. The troubling fact that the Justice Department has seen fit to oust eight United States Attorneys and the FBI has been using its expanded surveillance powers (powers made possible by Gonzales) to improperly obtain personal records of citizens is now coming to light. On Sunday, Paul Krugman wrote in the New York Times, “What is surprising is how fast the truth is emerging about what Alberto Gonzales, the attorney general, dismissed just five days ago as an ‘overblown personnel matter’. “Sources told Newsweek that the list of prosecutors to be fired was drawn up by Mr. Gonzales’s chief of staff, ‘with input from the White House.’ And Allen Weh, the chairman of the New Mexico Republican Party, told McClatchy News that he twice sought Karl Rove’s help — the first time via a liaison, the second time in person — in getting David Iglesias, the state’s U.S. attorney, fired for failing to indict Democrats. 'He’s gone,' he claims Mr. Rove said." Krugman also said, “After that story hit the wires, Mr. Weh claimed that his conversation with Mr. Rove took place after the decision to fire Mr. Iglesias had already been taken. Even if that’s true, Mr. Rove should have told Mr. Weh that political interference in matters of justice is out of bounds; Mr. Weh’s account of what he said sounds instead like the swaggering of a two-bit thug.” Krugman ended his column by writing, “In other words, the truth about that 'overblown personnel matter' has only begun to be told. The good news is that for the first time in six years, it’s possible to hope that all the facts about a Bush administration scandal will come out in Congressional hearings — or, if necessary, in the impeachment trial of Alberto Gonzales.” Sounds good to me. I still like the idea of also riding Gonzales out of town on a rail.