Gonzales is toast
Ok, if I were a betting man, I'd say Al "waterboard" Gonzales is toast. I'm not able to watch the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings, but from what I've heard and read so far, I'd have to say he's not doing well. Arlen Specter and Jeff Sessions have been merciless -- and they're Republicans. Coming into it Specter told Al, "As I see it, you come to this hearing with a very heavy burden of proof." Boy, he can say that again.
The best quote I've heard so far comes from Gonzales himself who told the Senators: "I now understand there was a conversation with myself and the president."
He now understands he had a conversation about the Federal Prosecutors?" He didn't understand it before? Wow, I know the guy is a lawyer, but that's a bit much. I'd speculate that sort of legalistic ducking and weaving isn't going to save his ass. He's got to go. I hope W. keeps standing behind him, that'll be fun.
The entire Prosecutor story has gone way beyond the AG at this point, though.
McClatchy papers had this amazing article today:
"For six years, the Bush administration, aided by Justice Department political appointees, has pursued an aggressive legal effort to restrict voter turnout in key battleground states in ways that favor Republican political candidates. "
Not that that's news, but this article really goes into the mechanics of the thing. Among other details in the article:
"Career voting rights specialists in the Justice Department soon discovered that more than 2,000 elderly Indians in Arizona lacked birth certificates, and they sought their superiors' approval to request more information from the state about other potential impacts on voters' rights. Spakovsky and Sheldon Bradshaw, the division's top deputy and a close friend of top Gonzales aide Kyle Sampson, a former Bush White House lawyer, denied the request, said one of the former department attorneys. "
"[Toby] Moore] now the project manager for American University's Commission on Election Reform, said he believes that administration officials felt the Voting Rights Section was populated by 'recalcitrant, embedded, liberal Democrats ... and they were determined to plant their DNA, change the institution and bring it to bear on behalf of Republican interests.'"
Pretty heady stuff.
The best quote I've heard so far comes from Gonzales himself who told the Senators: "I now understand there was a conversation with myself and the president."
He now understands he had a conversation about the Federal Prosecutors?" He didn't understand it before? Wow, I know the guy is a lawyer, but that's a bit much. I'd speculate that sort of legalistic ducking and weaving isn't going to save his ass. He's got to go. I hope W. keeps standing behind him, that'll be fun.
The entire Prosecutor story has gone way beyond the AG at this point, though.
McClatchy papers had this amazing article today:
"For six years, the Bush administration, aided by Justice Department political appointees, has pursued an aggressive legal effort to restrict voter turnout in key battleground states in ways that favor Republican political candidates. "
Not that that's news, but this article really goes into the mechanics of the thing. Among other details in the article:
"Career voting rights specialists in the Justice Department soon discovered that more than 2,000 elderly Indians in Arizona lacked birth certificates, and they sought their superiors' approval to request more information from the state about other potential impacts on voters' rights. Spakovsky and Sheldon Bradshaw, the division's top deputy and a close friend of top Gonzales aide Kyle Sampson, a former Bush White House lawyer, denied the request, said one of the former department attorneys. "
"[Toby] Moore] now the project manager for American University's Commission on Election Reform, said he believes that administration officials felt the Voting Rights Section was populated by 'recalcitrant, embedded, liberal Democrats ... and they were determined to plant their DNA, change the institution and bring it to bear on behalf of Republican interests.'"
Pretty heady stuff.
posted by William Duane at 1:26 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home