Bush: Gonzales' testimony had "increased my confidence'' in the A.G.

[sabra]

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/news_theswamp/2007/04/taking_gonzales.html#more

<snip>

After a week of withering confrontation on Capitol Hill -- and a weekend of withering commentary on the Sunday news talk show circuit -- how is Attorney General Alberto Gonzales holding up today?

"He's staying,'' says Dana Perino, the White House deputy press secretary.

And President Bush said today that Gonzales' testimony had "increased my confidence'' in the A.G.

[SammyWinstonJack]

1. George sure is stubborn, isn't he? Too a fault.

:crazy:

[maxrandb]

25. I don't think it stubborness, I think it's desperation

They simply have to hold onto Gonzalez. He knows where all the bodies are buried. Can you imagine the "skeletons" the new guy at Justice would find? That's why they are so desperate to hang onto Gonzo. They either need time to fire up the shredders, or they need to find someone with the same level of integrity and honesty as Gonzo. They can't have someone with a smidgen of integrity come into Justice and begin releasing e-mails and memo's, now can they?

As far as I know. A person with the integrity of Gonzo doesn't exist above the 3RD level of Hell, so, I'm sure it's a "hard-fill" for them.

[blogslut]

2. I'll bet

Translation: "Fredo proved he will lie for me. This pleases me."

[Epiphany4z]

3. Gonzo stays

because if he goes Karl will be next

[NewJeffCT]

4. Confidence that he can continue to obstruct justice?

and deeper investigations into the criminality at both the White House & Justice Dept?

[madokie]

5. well he does what bush* likes obfuscate and lie, so why wouldn't he

[peekaloo]

6. Mob bosses love when their underlings cover their asses.

I'm sure there is a presidential Medal of some sort in Gonzales' future.

[11 Bravo]

7. And when Barney shits in the Oval Office,

it increases Bush's confidence that the pooch has been properly house-trained.

[mike_c]

8. he is an utter idiot....

eom

[quiet.american]

9. What a moron. n/t

[Xipe Totec]

10. It's so nice to slip the surly bonds of reality

and live in a big rock candy White House.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

17. LOL!!

[Ian David]

11. Bush and Gonzales BOTH have to go then. n/t

[rodeodance]

12. what a sad commentary for Bush to make--even worse if actually watched

it and comes out with these comments.

[Akoto]

13. He's confident in an AG who is, based on that hearing, an amnesiac.

:shrug:

[w4rma]

14. I knew it. Gonzo has been an integral part of the neo-con planning from the very beginning.

They aren't going to let that guy go so easily.

He is the primary author of the Patriot Act. He wrote it with an agenda in mind.

[saltpoint]

15. Ok, so my questions are to Fred Fielding: You're this president's legal

counsel.

Are you so thick yourself that you advised him to endorse Gonzales' testimony?

Are you so aware of the web of deceipt reaching deep into the White House that you realized Bush had no choice but to have his AG go out and lie for him?

Are you so narrowly hyper-partisan that you don't care, so long as your client keeps those checks coming?

[Robbien]

16. Bush is right. Gonzo did a great job

Gonzo sat there saying nothing but clearly expecting Congress not being able to do anything about it.

Gonzo is untouchable because he has presidential backing. His whole testimony said that very clearly. He was doing us all a favor by appearing before the committee.

[msongs]

18. so what will the democrats do about all this? ha ha ha, we know the answer to that question nt

[Strawman]

19. Follow up question Mr. President

ummm, why? how?

Does he ever have to provide a warrant for any assertion he makes ever?

[bunny planet]

20. Then we have no choice, we must urge the House of Representatives to

begin the impeachment process against Alberto Gonzales.

There is precedent for it and it is in the Constitution.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/03/24/gonzales_should_be_impeached/

SNIP

THE HOUSE of Representatives should begin impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Gonzales, the nation's highest legal officer, has been point man for serial assaults against the rule of law, most recently in the crude attempt to politicize criminal prosecutions. Obstruction of a prosecution is a felony, even when committed by the attorney general.
The firings of US attorneys had multiple political motives, all contrary to longstanding practice. In some cases, Republican politicians and the White House were angry that prosecutors were not going after Democrats with sufficient zeal. In other cases, they wanted the prosecutors to lighten up on Republicans. In still others, exemplary prosecutors were shoved aside to make room for rising Republican politicians being groomed for higher office.
It's hard to imagine a more direct assault on the impartiality of the law or the professionalism of the criminal justice system. There are several other reasons to remove Gonzales, all involving his cavalier contempt for courts and liberties of citizens, most recently in the FBI's more than 3,000 cases of illegal snooping on Americans.

Why impeachment? In our system of checks and balances, the Senate confirms members of the Cabinet, but impeachment for cause is the only way to remove them. The White House, by refusing to cooperate, has now left Congress no other recourse.

and more...

But can the House impeach the attorney general? The Constitution is clear that Congress may impeach "all civil officers of the United States." In our history, the House has impeached two presidents, and just one member of the Cabinet, William Belknap, secretary of war under president Ulysses S. Grant.
Belknap had profited from kickbacks by military contractors. The House began impeachment proceedings, documented the charges, and just before the articles were formally voted, on March 2, 1876, Belknap resigned. But the House voted impeachment anyway. The reason, as House Judiciary Chairman J. Proctor Knott explained to the Senate, "was that his infamy might be rendered conspicuous, historic, eternal, in order to prevent the occurrence of like offenses in the future."

A fine discussion of the Belknap precedent was written last December on the legal website findlaw.com, by, of all people, President Nixon's former legal counsel John Dean. (Astoundingly, the best lawyer the Bush White House can find for advice on stonewalling is another Watergate veteran, Fred Fielding.)

And speaking of Nixon, there's another reason to impeach Gonzales. Though the assaults on the Constitution by Bush and Cheney surely rise to impeachable offenses, the Democratic leadership has been loath to use the impeachment process. The fear is that partisan polarization, so close to the end of Bush's term, would overshadow the issues.
But now, the offenses of a Cabinet member criticized by both parties, and the stonewalling by the White House, have given ample justification. It's time for an impeachment, not just to oust Gonzales, but as a salutary warning to his superiors.......


Has Jr. really left us any other options. We have a rogue Attourney General, left there because he must be there to protect our rogue President. Something's gotta give.

[EST]

21. It is so obvious, to everyone but the fanatically unconscious,

that bush and his entire entourage is a foul, gross joke and should be treated as such. Beyond mere words.

[Double T]

22. Increased confidence in HIS NOT remembering ANYTHING............

a.g. is the perfect bushco AG.

[NRaleighLiberal]

23. Bush resonates with people that have a similar lack of ability as he...nt

[SharonRB]

24. WTF?

INCREASED his confidence? Does he always have to do the opposite of what a normal person would do? Nevermind. I've answered my own question. Of course he does!

[flyarm]

26. impeach the little bug!! just do it!! fuck little lord pissy pants!!

anyone notice the sore (?) by pissy pants eyebrow..again another forehead "wound"

what the f is going on with that idiot??????????

he can't replace gonzo/..gonzo knows all his dirty little secrets!!..and gonzo provides a barrier to rove

fly

[Bravo Zulu]

27. The inmates are running the asylum

And * is the head lunatic!

[wake.up.america]

28. Even those who support Bush have got to admit Gonzo gave no reason at the hearinhs...

for Bush to be pleased other than the fact Gonzo did not reveal the real source of the firings.

Gonzo knows Bush like no other except for Rove.

[Javaman]

29. But as informed that very next day by the new press secertary...

he didn't even watch it.

more lies.

[sakabatou]

30. And if he's found guilty?