May 21, 2007 2:03 PM
Bush backs Gonzales, raps 'political theater'
President Bush gave his attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, a vote of confidence while Senate Democrats plan a vote of no-confidence.
He has done nothing wrong," Bush said in an impassioned defense of his longtime friend and adviser during a news conference at his Texas ranch.Despite Bush's comments, support for Gonzales is eroding, even in the president's own party. The Senate is prepared to hold a no-confidence vote, possibly by week's end, and five Republican senators have joined many Democrats in calling for Gonzales' resignation.
The attorney general is under investigation by Congress in last year's firing of eight federal prosecutors. The president told the Democrats to get back to more pressing matters.
"I stand by Al Gonzales, and I would hope that people would be more sober in how they address these important issues," Bush said. "And they ought to get the job done of passing legislation, as opposed to figuring out how to be actors on the political theater stage."
Still, Bush did not directly answer a question about whether he intended to keep Gonzales in office through the end of his presidency regardless of what the Senate does.
Do you think the President really has confidence in Gonzales? Should he stay or go?
May 21, 2007
2:27 PM
W writes:
You're doing a heckuva job Al
May 21, 2007
2:36 PM
Lost Gonzo writes:
they should both go. The biggest example of "political theatre" is the nonsense impeachment when Clinton was Prez
May 21, 2007
3:06 PM
FYK writes:
Gonzales has lied to Congress and disgraced his office and our nation. The only reason he is still the AG is because Bush has no higher expectations of those who work for him than he does of himself.
May 21, 2007
3:08 PM
666 writes:
All ye Republicans, hearken unto me:
This issue is an excellent example of what's wrong with the Bush presidency. As usual, he's doing what he wants no matter how bad an idea it is. Of course he doesn't want Gonzales removed from the Justice Dept...Gonzales and John Roberts are his puppet generals in that branch of the government, through whose intercession Bush overrides the time-honored system of checks and balances and exerts undue influence on that branch of government.
There's also the fact that Bush appointed him, and being the egotist he is, he'll be damned if anyone dares to undo what he's done. This attitude was evident in the laughable "I'm the decider" declaration, in which he defended Rumsfeldt against widespread criticism...of course, Rummy eventually resigned. Note that another Bush family crony now holds that position (Gates).
I can't help but notice that the dyed-in-the-wool Republicans that loudly supported him in 2000 and 2004 now denounce him as "not really a Republican". Well, you voted for him, dammit...twice. If you had had the courage to go with your better judgment - assuming you had any - instead of just going with the party flow, this wouldn't have happened
May 21, 2007
4:06 PM
Anonymous writes:
Does the name "Harriet Miers" ring a bell? Gonzales needs to go--and he can take Bushie with him.
May 21, 2007
4:19 PM
the decider writes:
If Gonzales goes and he spills the beans, Gonzales stays! No offense for the whole beans thing Alberto, ok, keep that past quiet, ok. Just a few more months, Please!
May 21, 2007
4:49 PM
shrub writes:
I miss Mollie Ivins because she would say it better than me but Bush has got to go (along with Cheney and Gonzalez). They've shreded our Constitution and they should be tried, convicted, and spend the rest of their wortheless lives in prison.
May 21, 2007
4:51 PM
Hogar De Vuelta (العودة) writes:
Bush should be impeached for selling America for low cost labor. Gonzales serves at the pleasure of the President, and as long as Bush is in office he should have the AG of his choice.
May 21, 2007
5:05 PM
history buff writes:
Tony Soprano for AG. He serves at the pleasure of the president.
May 21, 2007
5:06 PM
Tbone writes:
Not when the attorney-of-choice completely politicizes and makes a mockery of the supposedly independent justice department.
Really, gonzo has made a mockery of the entire judicial branch of gov't. Not to mention, he has decreased our standing in the world thanks to habeus corpus, geneva conventions, etc. This one man has done more to harm us than dang near anyone else. He is bush's sock puppet, that is all.
He's got to go. My vote is that he stays until bush is done.
May 21, 2007
5:51 PM
Anonymous writes:
The career highlight of Alberto Gonzales was his diatribe against the Geneva Convention, which laid the groundwork for the torture and abuse of Iraqi prisoners. After some photos of this got out, not only were those prisoners, their families, and their friends turned into sworn enemies of the USA, but you could count the rest of the Arab world as having being seeded with newly avid supporters of Al Qaeda. Gonzales was instrumental in Bush's unrelenting efforts to turn a tin-hat terrorist like Osama bin Laden into a hero of global proportions.
Any other collection of peoples with just a little more intelligence and courage than we Americans today, would have the entire Bush regime swinging over burning garbage like Mussolini for their incompetence and treasonous conduct. But we American are nothing if not complacent. I wonder how long shall we go on forfeiting our honor for this fleeting moment of comfort.
May 21, 2007
6:57 PM
Anonymous writes:
"Do you think the President really has confidence in Gonzales? Should he stay or go?"
For Sure. I mean Hitler had confidence in Himmler too.
LOL
May 22, 2007
10:03 AM
MLK writes:
So much for the Affirmative Action hire.
May 22, 2007
10:16 AM
Anti-Morons writes:
666- Half of the country voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004. So what? What was the alternative? The Goracle and John 'Swiftboat' Kerry. Bush is still a better choice but he has made mistakes that hurt our country and he is too stubborn to change. We got the better of the worst, we have no idea how bad it would have been with the two buffoons from the Dhimmocrat(ic) party. .
May 22, 2007
10:23 AM
history buff writes:
Actually, less than half of the public voted for Bush in 2000. Sorry, ante-moron.
May 22, 2007
10:46 AM
jay writes:
The Manchild is ust prolonging the inevitable.
May 22, 2007
1:12 PM
666 writes:
Auntie Moron:
Since we will never know how bad (or good) it would have been, you can't truthfully say that we got the better of the worst. We'll never know. All we really have to go by is Bush's screwed-up wanna-be monarchy.
You gotta admit that you backed the wrong horse when all of his pals are either resigning or going to jail.
May 23, 2007
5:44 AM
The Legacy of Failure writes:
Aunti Moron
Clearly Al Gore, Kerry would've been the better choice. There would be no war based on cooked intelligence. No disaster foreign polices like Abugrhaib and torture. And no illegal immigration bill like this.
Bush has done nothing but hurt America. Nothing good has come out of his tenure . NOTHING
May 23, 2007
7:51 AM
just sayin' writes:
that is quite a position to take Auntie Moron. "Sure our guy is a total half baked idiot but I still think your guy would have been worse" the only thing we agree on is that Bush is an idiot.