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The Senate Has Confirmed
Alberto Gonzales As Our Next US Attorney General:
Did Anyone Have Enough Conscience And Courage To Oppose Him?
If you see wicked men
perverting justice, do not say: 'Since they are many,
I must follow
after them'." - Rashi, 1040-1105, Commentaries On The Pentateuch.
After three consecutive days of sharply-divided
floor debate, the Senate finally confirmed
Alberto Gonzales as our next US Attorney General by a vote of 60-36.
Although several media pundits predicted that the Senate's 44 Democrats
would capitulate under pressure from
its 55 Republicans, this cave-in never happened.
At the end of the day, six turncoat Democrats
did vote WITH the Republicans to confirm Mr. Gonzales (see their infamous
names in Appendix B below ). However, 35 Democrats and one Independent
voted AGAINST this terrible appointment (see Appendix A below).
Perhaps the worst act of betrayal came when Democrat-in-name-only
Joseph Lieberman (CT) chose to quote a Biblical passage about doing
justice, but then perversely ignored Mr. Gonzales' recent complicity in
grave injustices, while advocating
his confirmation.
Nevetheless, the floor debate was dominated
by compelling arguments from principled
Democratic speakers (e.g., see numbers 1 and 5 in Appendix C below), who
quite rightly opposed Mr. Gonzales' confirmation on the following grounds:
(1) he has a history of dispensing
erroneous legal advice that lacks respect for human rights, civil rights,
constitutional law, international law, and the rule of law;
(2)
he lacks independent judgement and is habitually subservient to Mr. Bush's
agenda;
(3)
he has unethically refused to recuse himself from the DOJ's ongoing investigation
of Enron Corporation, despite the fact that he was legal counsel for Enron
in Houston;
(4) he advocates a vastly expanded
"commander-in-chief authority" during times of conflict which would unconstitutionally
grant the president "above the law" dictatorial powers to override both
domestic and international law;
(5) he first commissioned, and then signed off on, memos from his shyster colleagues, through which they attempted to circumvent well-established anti-torture laws and to justify brutal pre-interrogation and interrogation tactics, when anyone with a scintilla of common sense would have known that their legally-meritless arguments and implausible definitions were merely euphemistic fig-leafs to cover illegal torture tactics; and (6) he failed to use his considerable
power as White House Counsel to prevent the Bush administration from "unofficially"
adopting the blatantly-illegal policies -- like "coercive Interrogations,"
"ghost detainees," and "extraordinary renditions" -- that laid the groundwork
for the USA's appalling human-rights violations at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere.
Contrastingly, no Republican Senator possessed
enough conscience and courage to break
away from their party's slavish rubber-stamping of Mr. Bush's every wish.
Despite overwhelming opposition to this appointment from the American
people and the US media (see Appendix
C below), Republican speakers like Senators
Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) ignored not only their constituents
but also the facts. Indeed, the Republican speakers added insult
to injury by blithely ignoring their
opponents' factual arguments and resorting instead
to shameless bully-boy intimidation tactics, like playing the race card
by falsely claiming that opposition
to Gonzales was either "frivolous" or "racist"!
Overarching Conclusions: The whole world
was watching our Senate debate the Gonzales
appointment to determine whether American politicians would hold torture's
advocate accountable, or choose instead to reward torture's advocate with
a higher office. Now they have
their answer: (1) 98% -- or 54 out of 55 -- of
the Republican Senators cried crocodile tears when the Abu Ghraib torture
scandal became public knowledge, but
then showed us their disgustingly-hypocritical
nature by voting "Yes -- let's reward torture's advocate with the US Attorney
General's office!"; (2) but 80% --or 35 out of 44 -- of the Democratic
Senators had enough principled respect
for universal human rights to vote "No -- we
cannot in good conscience reward torture's advocate with this important
higher office!"
The Bottom Line: The 36 steadfast Senators
should be commended for their principled
integrity, but the increasingly-fascistic Republicans and the six defectors
should be ashamed of themselves for -- among other things -- their perverse
rubber-stamping of these terrible decisions by Mr. Bush: (A) to reward
former Deputy Attorney General Jay
Bybee -- whom Mr. Gonzales assigned to write the
infamous "torture memo" in August of 2002 -- with a lifetime position
on the US Court of Appeals for the
Ninth Circuit; and (B) to then reward former White
House Counsel Alberto Gonzales with the nation's top law-enforcement position
-- which insiders regard as Mr. Bush's strategic prelude to nominating
Gonzales for a lifetime position on
the US Supreme Court!
APPENDICES A-C
A. 6 Dem Senators Voted With Reps
To Confirm Alberto Gonzales As USAG
1. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
2. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT)
3. Ben Nelson (D-NE)
4. Bill Nelson (D-FL)
5. Mark Pryor (D-AR)
6. Ken Salazar (D-CO)
B. 36 Senators Voted AGAINST Confirming
Alberto Gonzales As USAG
1. Daniel Akaka (D-HI)
2. Evan Bayh (D-IN)
3. Joseph Biden (D-DE)
4. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
5. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
6. Robert Byrd (D-WVA)
7. Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
8. Thomas Carper (D-DE)
9. Hillary Clinton (D-NY)
10. Jon Corzine (D-NJ)
11. Mark Dayton (D-MN)
12. Christopher Dodd (D-CT)
13. Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
14. Richard Durbin (D-IL)
15. Russell Feingold (D-WI)
16. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
17. Tom Harkin (D-IA)
18. James Jeffords (I-VT)
19. Tim Johnson (D-SD)
20. Ted Kennedy (D-MA)
21. John Kerry (D-MA)
22. Herbert Kohl (D-WI)
23. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
24. Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
25. Carl Levin (D-MI)
26. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
27. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)
28. Patty Murray (D-WA)
29. Barack Obama (D-IL)
30. Jack Reed (D-RI)
31. Harry Reid (D-NV)
32. John Rockefeller (D-WVA)
33. Paul Sarbanes (D-MD)
34. Charles Schumer (D-NY)
35. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
36. Ron Wyden (D-OR)
C. 40 Recent Articles OPPOSING Alberto
Gonzales As US Attorney General
1. Senator Robert Byrd's 2-2-05 CD essay,
"Respecting The Spirit And Letter Of
The Law: On The Nomination Of Alberto Gonzales To Be Attorney General
Of The United States" [a transcript
of his Senate speech]:
2. John Nichols' 2-2-05 TN essay, "Rebuke
Gonzales And Torture":
3. Center for Constitutional Rights' 2-2-05
WWE article, "Confirmation Of Gonzales'
Role In Abu Ghraib Torture":
4. Robert Collier's 2-2-05 CD/SFC article, "Gonzales OK Could Be Seen As OK For Torture Rules": http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0202-01.htm 5. Senator Edward Kennedy's 2-1-05 TMT essay, "Kennedy Makes Case Against Gonzales" [a transcript of his Senate speech]: http://www.themoderntribune.com/kennedy_makes_case_against_gonzales.htm 6. Joshua Dratel's 2-1-05 CD essay, "The Road to Abu Ghraib: The Legal Narrative": http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0201-22.htm 7. The Interfaith Alliance's 2-2-05 CD/TIA
press release, "Send Gonzales Nomination
Back To Committee: Policies Allowing Torture Violate Moral Values, Human
Rights": 8. Sojourners' 1-31-05 Sojo.net editorial,
"What's At Stake: Oppose the Confirmation
of Alberto Gonzales": 9. UV Professor Huck Gutman's 1-26-05 CD essay, "Speedy Gonzales And The Rule Of Law": http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0126-36.htm 10. New York Times' 1-26-05 NYT editorial,
"The Wrong Attorney General": 11. The Capital Times' 1-26-05 CD/CT editorial, "The Gonzales Nomination: Feingold's Key Vote": http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0127-34.htm 12. Human Rights Watch's 1-26-05 CD article, "US Justifying Abuse Of Detainees [Through Torture Advocate Alberto Gonzales]": http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0126-05.htm 13. Frank Davies' 1-26-05 CD/KR article,
"Torture Treaty Doesn't Bar 'Cruel, Inhuman'
Tactics, Gonzales Says": 14. Daily Kos' 1-25-05 DK editorial, "No
On Gonzales," at: 15. The Capital Times' 1-25-05 CD/CT
editorial, "Feingold Should Rethink": 16. Jonathan Schell's 1-20-05 CD essay,
"What Is Wrong With Torture": 17. Eric Mink's 1-12-05 St. Louis Post-Dispatch
essay, "War On Terror: Grabbing Power,
Losing Respect": 18. Thom Hartmann's 1-11-05 CD essay, "First
They Came For TheTerrorists": 19. Ted Rall's 1-12-05 CD/TR essay, "The Normalization Of Horror: American Gulags Become Permanent": http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0112-35.htm 20. Marie Cocco's 1-12-05 CD/Newsday essay, "Democrats' Fury And Values Go AWOL": http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0111-27.htm 21. D. Lindley Young's 1-10-05 TMT essay,
"Above The Law Or Outside It: The Legal
Limits Of Torture": http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2088-1431300_1,00.html
24. Minneapolis Star-Tribune's 1-7-05 CD editorial, "Alberto Gonzales Has Blood On His Hands": http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0106-22.htm 25. New York Times' 1-7-05 NYT editorial, "Mr. Gonzales Speaks":http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/07/opinion/07fri1.html?th 26. Bob Herbert's 1-7-05 NYT essay, "Promoting
Torture's Promoter": 27. FP Law School Dean & Admiral John
Hutton's (USN-Ret.) 1-6-05 Jurist essay,
"Against Gonzales": Also see Yale Law Dean Harold Koh's 1-6-05
"Testimony To The SJC" (download it at this URL): 28. Former CIA Analyst Ray McGovern's 1-6-05 CD essay, "It's Not Only Illegal, It's Wrong": http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0106-32.htm 29. FC Law Professor Brian Foley's 1-6-05 CP essay, "Supporting Torture Is Not Gonzales' Worst Sin: A Contempt for Civil Rights":http://www.counterpunch.com/foley01062005.html 30. Jim Lobe's 1-5-05 CD article, "50 Civil
Rights Groups Express Concerns About Alberto Gonzales' Civil Rights
Record": 31. Evan Augustine Peterson III's 1-5-05
VH essay, "Unfinished Business: Confirming
Bush's USAG Appointee Is Unthinkable": 32. The Nation's 1-5-05 TN essay, "Oppose
The Gonzales Nomination": 33. Robert Scheer's 1-5-05 CD/LAT essay,
"Backing Gonzales is Backing Torture": 34. Ron Daniels' 1-5-05 ZN essay, "Oppose the Nomination of Alberto Gonzales": http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionIC=43&ItemID=6962 35. Maria Blanco's 1-2-05 SFC essay, "Not In My Name: Latino Appointee Does Not Appeal":http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/01/02/INGORAIISP1.DTL 36. Daily Kos' 12-28-04 essay, "Why We
Must Oppose Alberto Gonzales For AG": 37. Nat Hentoff's 12-3-04 TO/VV essay,
"Alberto Gonzales, Torture & Death": 38. Evan Augustine Peterson III's 11-30-04
NFNZ essay, "Why The USA Must Reject
Bush's 'Marquis De Sade' Nominee For Attorney General": 39. UIUC Law Professor Francis Boyle's 11-18-04 CP essay, "War Criminal For Attorney General?": http://www.counterpunch.org/boyle11182004.html Also see the related "Nüremberg Principles"
-- and especially Principle VII: 40. Bernard Weiner's 6-15-04 CP essay,
"No Other Way To Say This: Torture Memos
Reveal Fascist Mentality": http://www.crisispapers.org/essays/fascist.htm Again, thanks very much to everyone who
made those calls and sent those e-mails
to US Senators in response to Action Alerts!
Author: Evan Augustine Peterson III, J.D.
is the Executive Director of the
American Center for International Law ("ACIL").
©2005EAPIII ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Other articles on this
topic: Why The USA Must Reject Bush's Evil "Marquis de Sade" Nominee For Attorney General: Alberto Gonzales Wrote "Torture Memo" That Laid Groundwork For Abu Ghraib November 25, 2004 WAR CRIMINAL FOR US ATTORNEY-GENERAL? January 6, 2005 Action Alert: The Gonzales Appointment As Our Next Attorney General January 7, 2005 Converting America to Fascism January 11, 2005 A Global Gulag to Hide the War on Terror's Dirty Secrets January 14, 2005 Shredding The Law Ushers in US Fascism January 16, 2005 Action Alert: Call Today To Stop Gonzales For Attorney General! January 26, 2005 Last Action Alert: The Full Senate Will Debate, And Then Vote On, Alberto January 31, 2005 Life
under the Bombs in Iraq February 3, 2005 |
