Byron York on Alberto Gonzales‘ performance yesterday:
Judging by his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday, there are three questions about the U.S. attorneys mess that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales wants answered: What did I know? When did I know it? And why did I fire those U.S. attorneys?
As the day dragged on, it became clear — painfully clear to anyone who supports Gonzales — that the attorney general didn’t know the answers. Much of the time, he explained, he didn’t really know much at all — he was just doing what his senior staff recommended he do…
Under examination from Republican Sens. Sam Brownback, Lindsey Graham, Jeff Sessions, Tom Coburn and others, Gonzales maintained, in essence, that he did not know why he fired at least some of the eight dismissed U.S. attorneys. While Gonzales was able to give a reason for each firing, it appeared that in a number of cases, he had reconstructed the reason after the fact; he didn’t know why he fired the U.S. attorneys at the time, other than the dismissals were recommended by senior Justice Department staff.
Let me summarize the situation: Alberto Gonzales, U.S. Attorney General, is perhaps the most incompetent attorney general in the (modern) history of America. He is simply not able to explain why he did what he did, he seems to suffer from Alzheimers (or he lies), he continues to make matters worse, he has severely damaged the image of the DoJ, he has and continues to hurt the White House, he has politicized Justice, he seems to equate loyalty to Bush to loyalty to the nation (major mistake right there)… the list goes on and on.
Gonzales has got to go. I have seldom seen a high ranking official this incompetent.
If I were American I would tell Gonzales one thing, and one thing only: Begone, Alberto. Go back to Texas.
P.S. That being said, it’s quite fascinating for a foreign observer like me to see this happening. It is not a ‘pleasure’ as such, but it is intriguing.
Also read Joe’s great post of earlier today. Joe summarized yesterday’s hearing as follows: “He came. He saw.
“And he did not conquer.”
I would suggest changing that last line into: “He got butchered.”
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