A visit to the hospital

[Mr.Conley]

An interesting article on the idiocy that is Alberto Gonzales.

IN MARCH 2004 the White House asked the Department of Justice to certify the legality of a certain classified programme. John Ashcroft, then attorney-general, decided that it was not legal. Several hours after reaching this decision, Mr Ashcroft was stricken with pancreatitis and rushed to hospital, where he remained for more than a week. James Comey, his deputy, became acting attorney-general. He told the White House that the Justice Department would not authorise the programme.

Several days later Mr Comey received a message from Janet Ashcroft. Alberto Gonzales and Andrew Card were en route to the hospital to see her husband. Mr Gonzales was then legal counsel to the White House, and Mr Card was Mr Bush's chief of staff. Mr Comey found this alarming.

He raced to the hospital and ran up the stairs to Mr Ashcroft's darkened room. Mr Ashcroft was sedated and disoriented. So Mr Comey called Robert Mueller, the director of the FBI, who “instructed the FBI agents present not to allow me to be removed from the room under any circumstances.” Mr Gonzales and Mr Card arrived soon after and explained to Mr Ashcroft that they wanted his approval to re-authorise the programme.

“And Attorney-General Ashcroft then stunned me,” continued Mr Comey. Mr Ashcroft lifted his weary head from the pillow and explained why the programme was illegal. In any case, he continued, there was no point in coming to see him in the hospital, as Mr Comey was the acting attorney-general. Then Mr Ashcroft laid back, seemingly spent.

Mr Comey declined to specify the matter that was so important, but the Senate Judiciary Committee assumed that it was the terrorist surveillance programme, which authorised the National Security Administration to eavesdrop on international calls without a warrant. Last week Mr Mueller, who was at the hospital but not in the room, testified to the House Judiciary Committee that this was indeed the programme under discussion.

Mr Mueller's testimony directly contradicts that of his former boss, Mr Gonzales, who succeeded Mr Ashcroft as attorney-general. Mr Gonzales has repeatedly testified, under oath, that there was no serious disagreement within the Justice Department about the wiretapping programme. Just last week he told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he went to the hospital to discuss “other intelligence activities”.

Legally speaking, Mr Gonzales may not have lied. Several days after his testimony Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, released a letter explaining that the wiretapping programme was just one of a number of secret surveillance activities, most of which have not been disclosed. Perhaps the argument in the hospital room was over data mining rather than eavesdropping. And perhaps Mr Gonzales is merely a weasel and not a perjurer.

Either way, everyone is fed up. Mr Gonzales's tenure as attorney-general has been strewn with scandals and unmitigated by triumph. This latest bit of dissembling may be his last in the office. Senate Democrats want him investigated for perjury and a handful of counterparts in the House are calling for his impeachment. According to a July 30th SurveyUSA poll, only a quarter of Americans who are following the story (and almost half say they are) have confidence in Mr Gonzales.

Even Republicans have turned against him. “Fox News Sunday” looked for a White House official to defend Mr Gonzales last weekend, but could find no volunteers. True, Dick Cheney, the vice-president, says he is “a big fan”. But Mr Gonzales's few defenders have been reduced to saying that perhaps he is merely incompetent.

In any other administration Mr Gonzales would have been sacked long ago. But George Bush values loyalty above all. He and Mr Gonzales have been friends since Mr Bush was governor of Texas and Mr Gonzales was general counsel and Texas's secretary of state. Mr Bush must still value Mr Gonzales's willingness to act as a White House goon. Or perhaps he is a sort of human shield, taking knocks that might otherwise be directed at people above his pay grade.
http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9587767

 

[manu1959]

An interesting article on the idiocy that is Alberto Gonzales.

michael vick is innocent till proven guilty and gonzo and bush are just guilty ....

 

[Mr.Conley]

michael vick is innocent till proven guilty and gonzo and bush are just guilty ....

When it comes to incompetence, yes.

 

[manu1959]

When it comes to incompetence, yes.

that covers vick what about bush?

 

[Diuretic]

Bush can't afford to let Gonzales go, he knows too much.

 

[dilloduck]

Bush can't afford to let Gonzales go, he knows too much.

Like what ?

 

[Mr.Conley]

Like what ?

Exactly.

 

[Nevadamedic]

Exactly.

Huh?