I was acting on behalf of the president...

July 25, 2007 6:26 PM

Alberto Gonzales was in congress again today And he gave quite a performance, including the outright refusal to answer certain questions (without invoking any privilege) and lying. Not quite as exciting as natural gas exploding but still pretty dramatic. Tony Snow gets calls it all a bunch of political theater
posted by delmoi (18 comments total)

Someone needs to slap that dude.
posted by chunking express at 6:32 PM on July 25, 2007

There are documents now proving he was lying (as usual). Documents contradict Gonzales' testimony

Or he really was talking about another program? (but i thought all those were in diff agencies)
posted by amberglow at 6:42 PM on July 25, 2007

On Fox News, when they were showing Arlen Specter on TV ripping into Gonzalez, the ticker said he was a democrat.
posted by chlorus at 6:43 PM on July 25, 2007

Explain to me how the Democrats can let this fuck walk free and still feel entitled to my vote. I'm sick of this "You voted Nader in 2000, therefore you're why we have Bush" nonsense. Given a conditional, Tony Snow is right. As long the Democrats hammer on Gonzalez and DO NOTHING, it's nothing but bullshit political theatre, and I don't see why I'm supposed to believe that voting for Democrats is how to fix this.
posted by Pope Guilty at 6:44 PM on July 25, 2007 [3 favorites]

Alberto Gonzales was in congress again today yesterday.
posted by ericb at 6:46 PM on July 25, 2007

I mean, don't get me wrong- I love watching Gonzalez squirm like an earthworm awaiting the dissection scalpel. But I don't see where this is going.
posted by Pope Guilty at 6:46 PM on July 25, 2007

Pope Guilty: That's a big problem for the democrats. They make bush look bad, and then don't do anything. But I think something could happen with this. These things happen slowly. Congress can hold Gonzalez in contempt, but it's a complicated process be because the U.S. Attorney for DC is the one who would normally enforce contempt charges. And this whole scandal is about the corruption of the U.S. Attorney system.

Congress can use "inherent contempt" which takes place outside the judicial system, but that hasn't been used in this country since 1934. Bonus, though, is that the president can't pardon people found in inherent contempt of the congress, at least according to some Jurney v. MacCracken. here is the wikipedia article on it

But that's all congress can do without the cooperation of... Alberto Gonzales. But this isn't over.
posted by delmoi at 6:54 PM on July 25, 2007

Alberto Gonzales was in congress again today yesterday.

Oops, thats right. I knew that too :P.
posted by delmoi at 6:55 PM on July 25, 2007

"Did the President ask you to go?" -- besides the complete and admitted illegality of the spying program, they all conspired and violated 18USC371.
posted by amberglow at 6:58 PM on July 25, 2007

hey, what happened to the hano solo item? I was reading the link, came back and the item was gone.
posted by etaoin at 6:59 PM on July 25, 2007

er, han solo.
posted by etaoin at 6:59 PM on July 25, 2007

but it's a complicated process be because the U.S. Attorney for DC is the one who would normally enforce contempt charges.

The adminstration has already said they won't allow the DOJ to take any action on any contempt charges at all coming from Congress, which i think is itself illegal too. -- The Justice Department sent a letter yesterday to the House Judiciary Committee that made the administration's position official: a U.S. attorney will not enforce a citation of contempt, should it pass the House. ...
posted by amberglow at 7:00 PM on July 25, 2007

An Administration that doesn't give a rat's @$$ about subpoenas from Congress isn't going to care about the AttyGen getting grilled and shown up like this. “L’État, c’est moi, said George. If the DOJ is going to refuse to act against itself or its sponsor, impeachment won't matter either: About the only things left are either armed insurrection or waiting until Jan 2009.
posted by pax digita at 7:06 PM on July 25, 2007

The Executive Branch, if they weren't fucking reptiles at heart, would be embarassed by this. But they aren't, because they know if Gonzo can sit there and shit on Congress without Congress hitting back, they (the administration) win. This is political dick waving of the highest order.

Bush and his cronies, who claim to be America-lovin' patriots one and all, are dismantling the Constitution in front of everyone's eyes - and no one has the balls to call them on it. They can invoke "executive privilege" for anything they don't want to talk about - but that doesn't make it proper or correct.

Congress is tasked with oversight. The Executive is tasked with upholding the law, not creating it. The Gonzales brouhaha is critically important because it appears that the Executive branch has been attempting to stack the Judicial branch in their favor so, if Congress attempts to use its oversight powers, any legal disagreements would likely be found in favor of the Executive. It's an inside move to consolidate power in a single branch. I'd call that about as unAmerican as it gets.

It's especially troubling because it involves a President and Attorney General who argue that a blanket right to privacy doesn't exist (because it's not in the Constitution), and that there are no blanket habeas corpus rights (because it's not in the Constitution), but that a blanket right to executive privilege does exist - even though it's NOT IN THE FUCKING CONSTITUTION.

If Congress and the public don't fight back against these guys, they are going to win. They cannot be ignored away; they only thrive on that.
posted by Benny Andajetz at 7:08 PM on July 25, 2007

Pope Guilty, there is the little matter of the Democrats simply not having enough votes to get many things accomplished.
posted by madamjujujive at 7:08 PM on July 25, 2007

Or maybe let Oscar The Cat cuddle with them. And this FPP.
posted by fandango_matt at 7:09 PM on July 25, 2007

more about their refusal to allow the rule of law or our Constitution here: Guevara With a Sweet Southern Tan

and here: ... Taylor and Miers have chosen to commit a federal crime, and to disregard the only legal directives (the subpoena, the federal statute) to which they are in fact subject.
This is decidedly not the way things have ordinarily operated when a private citizen is caught in the middle of a constitutional struggle between the two political departments. ...
posted by amberglow at 7:09 PM on July 25, 2007

hey, what happened to the hano solo item? I was reading the link, came back and the item was gone.

Cortex removed it, apparently, because "For such (as you've noted) well-trod ground, Lucas in a t-shirt really doesn't justify a new post". Here is a copy of it.
posted by christopherious at 7:10 PM on July 25, 2007