Bush rejects calls for attorney general resignation ("broke no laws")

[rodeodance]

Source: Reuters

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070423/pl_nm/usa_prosecutors_dc;_ylt=Ak9e6dNCZVYA0p_ODibOl8zMWM0F

Bush rejects calls for attorney general resignation

7 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
President George W. Bush on Monday rejected calls for the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, saying Gonzales' Capitol Hill testimony last week "increased my confidence" in him.
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Bush said Gonzales' performance before critical U.S. lawmakers showed that the attorney general "broke no laws" in the firings last year of eight U.S. attorneys despite Democratic suspicions they were politically motivated.

No link yet.

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Bush is taking the same stance he took with rove libby. unethical--but LEGAL

[Uben]

1. We should demand....

....his resignation! He is the one who is most incompetent. He is the one making all the WRONG decisions. We meed to kick that fool out on his ass!

[Somawas]

4. "Most incompetent"? Hardly.

Impeach Cheney and Bush. That will take care of a lot.

[annabanana]

2. HAHAHAHA . . The "permanent" Repug Majority is doomed to be

the Permanent Repug Minority

[Ian David]

5. The GOP should become the new Temperance Party. n/t

[Rob H.]

3. Look for Gonzo to get a Medal of Freedom anytime now

I'm just kidding, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if it really happened.

[rodeodance]

6. Bush just said in news conf, the way Gonzales handled himself at

Forum Name General Discussion
Topic subject Bush just said in news conf, the way Gonzales handled himself at
Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x732612#732612
732612, Bush just said in news conf, the way Gonzales handled himself at
Posted by EV_Ares on Mon Apr-23-07 09:15 AM

the hearing increased his confidence in him. He honestly answered every question he could possibly answer.

Evidently, he could not answer many with as many "I don't recalls he said".

[Dhalgren]

7. The "Bush Standard" - "Broke no laws"...

[bunny planet]

8. Time to impeach Gonzales.

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

SNIP

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.

[truedelphi]

31. It's not surprising that John Dean writes what he writes

He's one of many Republicans who have lost their party.

And he knows he's lost his party.
But he has not joined the rest of the Right in giving up his values and climbing aboard the train of Greed, Incompetence and Stupidity

Fiscally conservative - not in Bush's Rep. party...

Smaller more efficient government - not in Bush's Rep. party...

Providing for a strong military defense - not in Bush's Rep. party...

Honest and ethical - not in Bush's Rep. party...

John Dean reminds me of why my growing up in the 1950's in a very Republican household was not that much of a burden to my spiritual or political growth.

[spotbird]

9. If it were true that Gonzo broke no laws,

and it's not, isn't that just the most pitiful standard ever?

[KansDem]

10. How does he know?

Even Gonzales doesn't know what went on in his department (he claims to not know what was done but declares he approved it :crazy:), so how would Bush know? Unless someone told Bush it was "lawful" to fire US attorneys who wouldn't play ball and replace them with Bush toadies who would interfere with elections by pursing baseless (and much publicized) investigations into Dems just months before an election. But who would tell him that? :shrug:

[w4rma]

11. Gonzo was just doing what Cheney/Rove ordered him to do. (nt)

[NashVegas]

12. There Was No Law Because No One Ever Imagined Such Blatant Party Maneovering!

Our entire foundation as a country was based on the idea that our government could and would put the emphasis on actual governing, rather than clinging to power for one party's sake!

Whoever thought someone would come in and use the nation's justice system for such shameful politicing?

[magellan]

13. Maybe legal the way Bush** interprets the law

But then Bush** believes he can interpret the law any way he wants and ignore the other branches without answering for it like any tin pot dictator. And so far he's been allowed to get away with it.

[underpants]

14. INCREASED?

"increased my confidence"?? oh that's right he never gave up Rove and that appears to be the whole aim of these last two years.

[yellowcanine]

15. "broke no laws" Well at least we know where the bar is. Pathetic.

[maddezmom]

16. he was inspired by the testimony?

:argh:

[gratuitous]

17. Sure he's incompetent, and bumbling, and a fool

But he hasn't been put on trial and convicted, so there! Alberto had all of George's confidence before his appearance, and now he's got even more. The bulldogs of the media, with the images of Gonzales' bumbling fresh in their minds, will now openly question Bush's sanity, and speculate on just what kind of mental illness he's suffering from, right? Or will they say, "Increased confidence? Well, all right then. Let us speak no more about it."

[ananda]

18. One law for dems..

.. no law for reeps.

Corporofascism is a beeyatch.

[Felix Mala]

19. Testimony increased my confidence that country is being run

by a bunch of idiots...

[brooklynite]

20. Here's the link...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush gave embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales a strong vote of confidence on Monday despite scant support for him among key Republicans.

"This is an honest, honorable man, in whom I have confidence," Bush said.

The president said that Gonzales' testimony before skeptical Judiciary Committee senators last week "increased my confidence" in his ability to lead the Justice Department. Separately, a White House spokeswoman said, "He's staying."

Gonzales has been under fire for what the White House acknowledges was his poor handling of the firing of eight federal prosecutors. The attorney general appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee last Thursday and said dozens of times that he could not recall certain events about the dismissals.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/04/23/gonzales.prosecutors.ap/

A simple explanation of the Gonzales positions:

"I did nothing wrong... (e.g. no laws were broken in the firings)

but...

"I didn't do nothing wrong... (I don't know who made the decisions, but it wasn't me personally...)

clear enough?

[Diane R]

21. Good. The more he digs in his stubborn heels, the more his supporters can see what a fool he is.

[Kablooie]

25. Everyone may see him as a fool BUT...

He's gotten away with blatant criminal activity, is still getting away with it, out in the open, right in front of everybody, and no one in the entire world seems to be able to do a damn thing about it.

Call him a fool all you want.

But his actions are consistently successful and that's the only thing that counts.

[MUAD_DIB]

30. Bush's core supporters don't care that he lies. It is most likely a shared

GOPig virtue. Consider how many times has Bush been caught in a lie or utter fuckup?

If they haven't left by now they will either not admit openly that they admire *, or they will just follow the talking
points about how he is being sidelined by the LibRul media.

[Kablooie]

22. Gonzales is doing a truly great job.

His job is to confuse the Congress and keep Bush and his minions safe from being legally culpable.
That's all his job is.

He's doing a great job. He didn't answer anything which is just as Bush like it.

He's doing a horrifyingly bad job at supervising the Justice department but that's not the job he was hired for.

No wonder Bush's confidence in him has increased.

[NoodleyAppendage]

23. Chimp can't get rid of Gonzales because he knows where the bodies are buried.

Gonzales, if he ever flipped, would bring the whole house of cards down upon the War Criminal in Chief. I seriously wonder if Gonzales is playing an implicit blackmail game with the Chimp.

J

[Az_lefty]

24. incompetence is OK with little george, just don't get caught breaking the law

:puke:

[Vinca]

26. Good - the longer Gonzo stays, the better it is for Democrats.

The "in your face" incompetence and shady dealings of this administration should help elect a supermajority of Democrats to Congress next time around as well as winning the White House.

[paparush]

27. This Just In: There is the Brink of Insanity, and then there is the ABYSS!

[LiberalFighter]

28. Restoring honor and integrity to the White House nt

[fryguy]

29. did he even watch/read any of the testimony?

or merely relying on Fredo's own account of it?

[annabanana]

35. Not according to today's presser . . She said he had received "updates"

during the day... He never saw it.

[Pacifist Patriot]

32. Why do I keep hearing the Twilight Zone music in my head?

Increased? Increased?! INCREASED!!!

:wtf:

[truedelphi]

33. We must share a brain! n/t

[Pacifist Patriot]

34. Well that explains why I feel like I've barely got half of one today.

:)