How Low Can Gonzales Go? (by Eugene Robinson)

[marmar]

from Truthdig:


How Low Can Gonzales Go?

Posted on May 18, 2007
By Eugene Robinson

WASHINGTON—It just gets worse and worse. We already knew that Alberto Gonzales—who, unbelievably, remains our attorney general—was willing to construe the Constitution and the Geneva Conventions however George W. Bush and Dick Cheney wanted. We knew he was willing to politicize the Justice Department, if that was what the White House wanted. Now we learn that Gonzales also was willing to accost a seriously ill man in his hospital room to get his signature on a dodgy justification for unprecedented domestic surveillance.

The man Gonzales harried on his sickbed was his predecessor as attorney general, John Ashcroft. The episode—recounted this week in congressional testimony by Ashcroft’s former deputy, James Comey—sounds like something from Hollywood, not Washington. It’s hard not to think of that scene in “The Godfather” when Don Corleone is left alone in his hospital bed, vulnerable to his enemies, and Michael has to save him.

It was the night of March 10, 2004. Several days earlier, Ashcroft had been stricken with a severe case of pancreatitis and rushed to George Washington University Hospital, where his gallbladder was removed and he was placed in intensive care. Ashcroft’s wife had banned all visitors and phone calls.

Ashcroft’s illness came amid a fight between the White House and the Justice Department over the program of warrantless domestic electronic surveillance that Bush had authorized following the 9/11 attacks. Justice had reviewed the program and expressed doubts about its legality.

Comey, serving as acting attorney general because of Ashcroft’s illness, refused to sign off on a reauthorization of the program until changes were made. The night before the current authorization was to expire, Comey said, he was being driven home when he got a call from Ashcroft’s chief of staff, who had just heard from Ashcroft’s wife that Gonzales, then serving as White House counsel, and White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card were on their way to the hospital. They wanted to get the ailing Ashcroft to overrule Comey and sign the reauthorization.

Comey ordered his driver to turn around and managed to get to the hospital first. Rather than wait for the elevator, he ran up the stairs. “And Mrs. Ashcroft was standing by the hospital bed,” he testified, “Mr. Ashcroft was lying down in the bed, the room was darkened. And I immediately began speaking to him, trying to orient him as to time and place, and try to see if he could focus on what was happening, and it wasn’t clear to me that he could. He seemed pretty bad off.”

...(snip)...

Gonzales’ testimony in 2006 was that officials expressed no reservations that “dealt with the program that we are talking about today.” Presumably he was being extraordinarily careful with his words—“the program that we are talking about today” had already been modified, two years earlier, to avoid what threatened to become a Wednesday Night Massacre. Before those changes, the attorney general neglected to tell Congress, the program had caused a legal riot.

The image I can’t get out of my head is of Alberto Gonzales carrying a document for Ashcroft’s signature into the man’s hospital room, attempting a sneaky end-run around the deputy whom Ashcroft left in charge of the department, knowing full well that Ashcroft was seriously ill and almost certainly medicated. What did he intend to do, guide the man’s hand?

This is the attorney general of the United States, ladies and gentlemen. Heaven help us. .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20070518_how_low_can_gonzales_go/

[Jim__]

1. What I find amazing is that gonzo, supposedly a learned attorney

didn't realize that Ashcroft's signature was meaningless, which Ashcroft pointed out to him. Ashcroft had signed over the powers of Attorny General to Comey. The whole thing was a fool's errand. Fittingly enough, carried out by gonzo.

[habitual]

2. I can hear how they'd parse these words already:

Imagine 1 week later, Ashcroft has returned to being AG:

They would say:

1. Ashcroft signed off on this, look there is his signature.
2. Ashcroft is the AG of the US.

They are right in both instances and they have, miracle upon miracle, left out that he was
NOT AG when he signed it.

Just a theory I thought up in a few secs... boy it has gotten easy to see how these people will lie.!

[HereSince1628]

3. The Gods, Eugene, the Gods take care of those who take care of themselves