Survey says: Goodbye, Mr. Gonzales
While the President continues to have "full confidence" in Alberto Gonzales as his Attorney General, op-ed pages around the country disagree.
Dallas Morning News, May 17, 2007:
If you had any doubts about whether Alberto Gonzales has the professional judgment to remain on as U.S. attorney general, let Tuesday's astonishing testimony by James Comey put your mind at rest ... The disgraceful power play failed, but it's revealing of how this White House has at times had no brakes – not the law, nor, in this instance, common decency ... Mr. Gonzales should take a hint. This is getting beyond embarrassing.
Mr. Bush has acknowledged authorizing surveillance without a court order of communications between people abroad and people in the United States. That alone violates the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Domestic spying without a warrant would be an even more grievous offense ... The Republican-controlled Congress did a disservice to the nation by refusing to hold Mr. Bush to account for the illegal wiretapping. The current Congress should resume a vigorous investigation of this egregious abuse of power.L.A. Times, May 18, 2007:
Gonzales' role in this drama brings together the Bush administration's biggest personnel problem — on Thursday, two senators proposed a vote of "no confidence" in the attorney general — and one of its most controversial policies. It also serves as a reminder that, long before he moved from the White House to the Justice Department, Gonzales was a serial enabler of legal shortcuts in the war on terror.
Washington Post, May 18, 2007:
Mr. Bush assured the country yesterday, as he brushed off requests for a more detailed account [of involvement in the Ashcroft hospital visit]. But this is exactly the point of contention. The administration, it appears from Mr. Comey's testimony, was willing to go forward, against legal advice, with a program that the Justice Department had concluded did not "honor the civil liberties of our people."
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