In an Op-Ed published today the New York Times is calling for the impeachment of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in the likely event that the Justice Dept. refuses a Congressional request to assign a special prosecutor to the case. From the Times story:
As far as we can tell, there are three possible explanations for Mr. Gonzales’s talk about a dispute over other — unspecified — intelligence activities. One, he lied to Congress. Two, he used a bureaucratic dodge to mislead lawmakers and the public: the spying program was modified after Mr. Ashcroft refused to endorse it, which made it “different” from the one Mr. Bush has acknowledged. The third is that there was more wiretapping than has been disclosed, perhaps even purely domestic wiretapping, and Mr. Gonzales is helping Mr. Bush cover it up.
Democratic lawmakers are asking for a special prosecutor to look into Mr. Gonzales’s words and deeds. Solicitor General Paul Clement has a last chance to show that the Justice Department is still minimally functional by fulfilling that request.
If that does not happen, Congress should impeach Mr. Gonzales.
I still believe that there has been more illegal activity perpetuated by this administration than we know about. The only way the truth is going to come out is through a Congressional investigation. This administration has shown that it places political expediency above all other considerations, even the law. If the administration were to assign a special prosecutor there is no doubt in my mind that it would be politically motivated and intended to hide the truth. By holding impeachment hearings the Congress can finally get to the truth about the illegal intelligence gathering activities and illegal vote suppression practices that this administration has engaged in. I think waiting for a special prosecutor is a waste of time. The Congress should move forward with impeachment now. They already have plenty of evidence to make their case. I would take things one step farther though. I believe Congress should make it illegal for future individuals to serve as counsel to the president and then Attorney General. This is a natural conflict of interest. We need to make sure this kind of thing never happens again.
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Work and struggle and never accept an evil that you can change -- Andre Gide
There are few thing worse a
There are few thing worse a President can do than politicize the Justice department, the department that holds sway over the liberty of each and every one of us.
And this notion that a President's appointees serve only at his pleasure may apply in the President's bedroom, but nowhere is it to be found in the Constitution. Appointing the right people to serve the People is probably the single most important job of the President.
Impeach Gonzales. Rice, Cheney and Bush. If you Dems in Congress can't make a case for that, you probably couldn't make a case against Hitler back in 1933 either.
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