Gonzo's back in the news...

Posted: Wednesday, July 25, 2007 9:02 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under: White House, Congress

… and it isn’t pretty. The Washington Post: “… Gonzales weathered one of the most contentious and hostile congressional hearings seen during the Bush administration. Democrats and the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee accused him of repeatedly misleading them and warned that he could face perjury charges if he lied to the panel. ‘I do not find your testimony credible, candidly,’ said Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), who became visibly angry at several points during his exchanges with Gonzales. ‘The committee's going to review your testimony very carefully to see if your credibility has been breached to the point of being actionable.’”

More: “Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) told Gonzales bluntly: ‘I don't trust you.’”

The New York Times: “Mr. Gonzales endured the nearly four-hour battering at the hearing with a calm, sometimes bewildered expression. He insisted he would stay on as attorney general despite his low credibility in Congress. Democratic lawmakers portrayed the Justice Department as rudderless and demoralized, and they voiced deep skepticism about his leadership, often with sarcastic and derisive criticism. For the first time, several lawmakers suggested his statements about the surveillance programs were so misleading that his testimony might lead to potential legal sanction.”

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Comments

Just remember executive privlege cuts both ways.One day Hillary will be president and whats good for the goose....

keno (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 9:12 AM)

Just remember executive privlege cuts both ways.One day Hillary will be president and whats good for the goose....

keno (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 9:12 AM)

"Don't play with me, cause your playin with Fire" The Rolling Stones.

Union Baby, Tennessee (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 9:15 AM)

The wheels of justice grind slowly but exceedingly fine. I am beginning to have some hope the Bush administration may finally be held accountable for their disregard for our constitution.

Amy B Portland, ME (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 9:17 AM)

sooner or later the repugnent repubs will pay the price.

mikeeg,abdn,wa (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 9:36 AM)

Maybe the citizens of this country will have to THROW
the bum out. One bus load should be able to squeeze that lying sack of crap through the door. Bring a gas mask. Go directly to the INJUSTICE DEPT, third door on the right. No scoping out all the cute christen blondes, remember abstinence is their moto.
GOOD LUCK.

HOT DAM (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 9:38 AM)

Why doesn't Congress impeach this man? With all the talk of impeaching Bush or Cheney, why not start with Alberto Gonzales? It seems there would be a good possibility of getting bi-partisan support from both Republicans and Democrats on removing Mr. Gonzales....and what a message this would send to the Bush White House!

Mike, Queens, NY (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 9:41 AM)

I have an idea for Gonzo. He should get 2 tape recorders. On the first recorder he should tape a phrase over and over to the end of the tape. He should tape another phrase over and over on the second tape. He should then bring both recorders when he is in front of committees answering question. One he is asked a question he can just hit play on recorder one that says "I don't know". When another question is asked he can hit play on recoder two that says "I don't recall". I don't know...I don't recall...I don't know...I don't recall. That way he can save his voice. Sounds like a good idea to me.

Ron, St. Louis, Mo. (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 9:57 AM)

"The Devil made me do it" Flip Wilson

The Edge, Macon, GA (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 9:58 AM)

That's alright. Patrick Leahy can't be trusted either. Ask the family of that guy in Egypt he got killed because he leaked sensitive information. That is why he is no longer on the intelligence committee. You got a lot of gall calling out Alberto Gonzales with your history Patty!

jerry/corpus christi texas (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 9:59 AM)

When it comes down to the total contempt that these people, the administration, congress and the justice department have for the citizens of the U.S. and our Constitution, I wish we were at the personal breaking points of the 70s. The people would then be knocking down doors, walls and gates to get at these bastards and literally throw them out. Let them start up a draft and that WILL be the final straw for most - and that's why they WON'T do such a thing. In the meantime, they'll continue to abuse our brave soldiers with multiple deployments and trample our rights in every way possible because they are shielded from the pain and demonstrations. The American people really need to get into these bastards faces and knock them down from their high horses.

Brian, Cedar Hill, TX (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 10:03 AM)

I've noticed this is the only line that jerry has posted on this morning. Must be the I have No defense mood. Here's a thought jerry, when gwb comes back to tx in about another week, DON'T LETEM LEAVE. The world will be a much better place with him on vacation, PERMANENTLY.BTW, brian/tx, over 75% of us feel the same as you do, but name calling & swearing is beneath you. Thats Not our way of dealing with thing's that mean a lot to us.

rick,ky (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 10:34 AM)

Why can't the Committee bring both Gonzales and Comey before them, and ask them both, under oath, about the infamous hospital visit and tell them charges will be brought for lying. Obviously, one of them has committed perjury (gee, I wonder which one) and perhaps if Gonzales had to stand next to Comey (who was in Ashcroft's hospital room) he might have an Epiphany and tell the truth - nah, he's counting on Executive Privilage to save him!
Sixteen months and counting.

Jamie, Elmwood Park, IL (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 10:42 AM)

Yeah, leave the name calling and swearing the democrat far left. They are the one's that will keep the GOP in the white house another 4 years.

jerry/corpus christi texas (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 10:48 AM)

Gonzales in all of his incompetence and subordination to Bush...makes for a good punching bag. Why force him out if he insists on staying?

CJ (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 10:59 AM)

Gonzales is not only the poster boy of this administration, he is doing it willingly. He surely cannot be that devoted, can he? He's supposed to be an attorney and sworn to uphold the law. However, this ignorance of the law is par for the course in the Bush Administration. No matter what you think, the facts speak for themselves... Bush's team has gone against the laws of our country many times and will probably never be held accountable to anyone for their actions. It is deplorable.

Nick, Ohio (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 11:36 AM)

Funny that the Dem frontrunner went before Congress during the 90's and uttered the "I don't know" or "I don't recall" line around 50 times. Ok for Hil, but not Ok for Gonzo? Ok...got it.

The Dogg (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 11:44 AM)

rick,ky - I'm sorry to disagree, but the people of this country need to understand the REAL power that we have and start name calling, shouting, labelling and pushing these bullys while we still have it. It was their name calling, labelling,kicking and screaming that somehow scared the people into submission, and we need to get the backbone to stand up to them again and put them where they belong - out of office and into the gutters where they belong. Sometimes saying please and thank you and playing by rules that noone else is playing by just gets you screwed - and THEY know it. Power to the people!

Brian, Cedar Hill, TX (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 11:45 AM)

Gonzales has the the BUSH SMIRK down to a science.He is smug because he knows where all the bones are buried in TX and DC----and Bush will save him like he has for Libby.He will probably get a Medal of Honor like the Bremer and the rest of the criminals.This medal of honor is so tarnished it does not mean what it used to.Thanks to this mongrel Bush

HMT (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 11:52 AM)

"Yeah, leave the name calling and swearing the democrat far left. They are the one's that will keep the GOP in the white house another 4 years."

jerry, Your dreaming. And in the words of Dick Cheney go F*** yourself.

FL (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 12:07 PM)

spoken like a true Daily Kos/true american liberal FL

jerry/corpus christi texas (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 12:34 PM)

Hey FL, I agree and say it again to little jerry.

F StLouis (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 1:11 PM)

Jerry- Spoken like a true Fox news/unamerican rightwing fascist.

juan,ft lauderdale,fl (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 1:33 PM)

If nothing wrong occurred with the firings of the prosecutors, then why resist the appearances in public to explain and defend your actions? If they are truly innocent of anything, then why the appearance of a cover-up? Is there something hidden here we shouldn't know? The Office of the President of the United States of America has no privelges that are above the law. The use of Executive Privelege was not meant to cover-up abuses of power or illegal actions. Even the Republicans in Congress are totally fed up with their misuse of this privelege. The secrecy in the White House is unprecedented and in the eyes of many in Congress and many average citizens, uncalled for.

Seems the Bush Admin. has forgotten the rule their mothers once told them... always tell the truth, no matter how much it hurts, as the alternative, once discovered is so much more painful. Or, don't the priveleged moms say that?

I get it now... the laws of the US don't apply to the upper class.

Nick, Ohio (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 1:50 PM)

Gonzo's so copacetic because he remembers Ollie North's saying during Iran-Contra, as he watch the Congressional proceedings; "Those people would like to get me, but they never will, and do you know why? THE OLD MAN LOVES MY ASS!!" He knows good and well that trying to nail him is like trying to nail a mid-level drug king when the cops are owned by the cartel of his boss, the Super Drug Lord. Huey Long never had it so good...

Jim, Washington, D.C. (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 2:08 PM)

Nick, OH, you are saying exactly what I have been asking... our government tells us if we have "nothing to hide", we should have no trouble with our phones being wiretapped, nor should we object to any information-gathering that the government does. If our leaders have nothing to hide, why is everything kept secret? I do know, for instance, that some issues must be kept undercover, for national security reasons. This does not mean, however, that every word spoken, or every act committed by this administration should be kept from the light of day.

WAY too much smoke for there not to be a fire.

Lisa - Fort Worth TX (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 2:18 PM)

Having a backbone has nothing to with it Brian. I come across challenges everyday & cussing gets me nowhere, but madder. I'll leave the name calling & swearing to other's, as it solves nothing. You can outsmart people with knowledge of things. When you reduce yourself to the level of your adversary's, you become one of them. I Refuse to reduce myself to that level. I read & appreciate all of the post's you post & happen to agree, with you on just about everything. Let the jerry's/daves/jtb's/lee holmes of the world carry on with there NONSENSE. I have'nt drank the kool-aid, & i don't think you have either."DELUSIONAL THINKING BY COMMON SENSE AMERICAN'S IS OVER"

rick,ky (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 5:24 PM)

Mike in Queens [[Why doesn't Congress impeach this man? With all the talk of impeaching Bush or Cheney, why not start with Alberto Gonzales?]]

Gonzales could be impeached in the House, but he can't be convicted in the Senate because there are too many Robot-Republicans who will refuse to convict no matter what the evidence is against him -- and the evidence that he's lied to Congress and abused his power is already about as strong as it can get.

The same goes for Bush and Cheney: they could be impeached but not convicted. A 2/3 majority is needed to convict, so the Repubs would claim that Gonzales (or Bush or Cheney) had been vindicated if the vote to convict failed, as it certainly would.

By the way, the vote to convict Clinton in his impeachment trial failed to even get a simple majority (more than 50%)in the Senate. A vote to convict Bush would likely get a majority on some charges, but not the necessary 2/3 majority.

Houston (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 6:08 PM)

The little weasel knows where ALL the bodies are buried, sometimes literally---Extraordinary Renditions and what they did to the people they kidnapped, torutre, wiretapping average Americans, Abu Graib, torture, Gitmo, torture...The chimp doesn't DARE piss this little rat off! He'd write a tell-all book adn they'd all be hung as the traitors they are.

Jim, Washington, D.C. (Sent Wednesday, July 25, 2007 7:32 PM)

To those who keep harping on the "if there is no wrong doing then there should be anything to hide", haven't paid attention to how congress has handled these situations in the last 40 years. They use whistle blowers to try and catch the big fish, but when it backfirees, the only people that pay the price are the whistle blowers (i.e. Scooter Libby regardless of president Bush commuting his sentence). That's why no one wants to talk "on the record". they are tired fo tryng to do the right thing and then paying the maximum price. It's time for congress to quit with all the posturing and finger pointing and begin by running the country like they promised witn a non-paritisan hand. Stop trying to pass legislation that you know you can't get the votes just so you can blame the other side and pick a battle you have a chance of winning.

concerned democrat (Sent Thursday, July 26, 2007 11:16 AM)

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