The Attorney General is supposed to be America's top lawyer. His job duties require him to direct the law enforcement efforts of the federal government. Alberto Gonzales seems to think that he works for Bush and Cheney instead of the American people. When Gonzales was first advanced for his position by the Bush White House, Democrats feared that Gonzales would politicize the Justice Department and overlook or excuse law-breaking by the Bush Administration.
Attorney General Gonzales has demonstrated in his recent testimony before Congress concerning the illegal NSA wiretapping authorized by the Bush White House that the worst fears of his Democratic opponents were justified. The performance of Gonzales before Congress was a clear example of excusing political abuse of office. He reminded many observers of similar performances by Nixon's former Attorney General John Mitchell. Mitchell disgraced his office by trying to cover-up the crimes of the Nixon White House. Both Nixon and Mitchell were eventually forced from office.
It is important for citizens to vote the Democrats into power in Congressional elections this Fall in response to the illegal activities of the Bush Administration. It has become apparent that Bush, Cheney and Gonzales will not respect the rule of law or our traditional Constitutional "checks and balances" system. Removing all three individuals from positions of power would be positive steps in preserving and protecting our American Democracy.
Dean does not directly call for political actions, such as changing voting behavior, unlike this writer. In my opinion, direct political action by the citizens will be required because the Republican leadership in the House and Senate will not enforce the rule of law when it comes to law-breaking by the Bush Administration.
Republicans in power have a very poor history when it comes to prosecuting corruption by other Republicans in power. Abuse of power by Republican politicians seems to always be fine with almost all other Republicans in power.
The media will seriously fail the American people if they do not dig deeply into the NSA wiretapping, the outing of CIA operative Valerie Palme by White House personnel and White House connections to the Abramoff scandals. The culture of corruption has morphed into a true Constitutional crisis. Under Gonzales, we cannot expect the Justice Department to aggressively seek justice on these important issues. The justice system under Bush, Cheney and Gonzales is broken.
I believe that Alberto Gonzales under Bush is no more reliable that John Mitchell under Nixon. In my opinion, history needs to repeat itself. The nation should repair itself by removing Bush, Cheney and Gonzales from office like was done with Nixon, Agnew and Mitchell. All three current officeholders need to be investigated by the media and Congress as was done during the Watergate scandals with Nixon, Agnew and Mitchell.
Written by Stephen Crockett (co-host, Democratic Talk Radio http://www.democratictalkradio.com ). Mail: P.O. Box 283, Earleville, Maryland 21919. Email: midsouthcm@aol.com .
Feel free to publish at no charge without prior permission.
