Well. Yes! Alberto Gonzalez has resigned, according to the news. He is the Attorney General who governed not by his love for the Rule of Law, but by blind faithfulness to his capataz (boss) George Walker Bush. It is rumored, the news continues to state, that Michael Chertoff will be nominated by George Walker Bush to succeed Alberto Gonzalez at the Justice Department. Chertoff seems to be the peg that is good for whatever ails Junior Boy. He fits whatever hole needs to patch up. From replacement for Michael Brown’s Fema following the mismanagement of the Katrina relief efforts, to Director of Homeland Security after Kerrick was forced to withdraw his nomination for Director of Homeland Security, to now, as head of the Justice Department, if he indeed happens to be Bush’s nominee as head of America’s Department of Justice. As such, you can expect none out of Chertoff.
If Gonzalez’ tenure as AG was marred by “Beto’s” blind allegiance and extreme servitude to Bush ... we can expect Chertoff’s tenure at the DOJ to be one of extreme allegiance to his rightwing, gut-feeling, political ideology.
Speaking to the New York Times following the news of Gonzalez’ resignation, Senator Chuck Schumer is quoted as saying that, “It has been a long and difficult struggle, but at last the attorney general has done the right thing and stepped down. For the previous six months, the Justice Department has been virtually nonfunctional, and desperately needs new leadership.”
“New Leadership?” I asked. “Leadership based on the Rule of Law?” I continued to ask. Pardon me for saying so, Senator Schumer, but coming from Michael Gut-Feeling Chertoff we can expect anything, whatever, but nothing that comes from the Rule of Law. But, you seem to know that. In your answer to a reporter during your 11:15 AM press conference today, August 27th, you replied that Chertoff’s track as an administrator of Homeland Security leaves much to be desired and, you added that his track in legal positions leaves him open to many questions about his faithfulness to the rule of law.
Thank you. Thank you for knowing that. Now, a word to the wise, that is precisely what Bush is looking for in an AG. He is looking for a man whose adherence to the rule of law is questionable. A man will give Bush and his crimes a blank check, just like Beto himself did, even if the new Attorney General’s impulse to do so comes from a totally different place than Beto’s allegiance to Bush did. Bush is looking for a man capable of going on witch-hunts, a man who can pull out whatever Bush needs of putrid garbage, thin air, or gut-feelings.
In the end, Beto grew to be no greater than his ancestors in this land, bricklayers serving their master. It is sad to see that having had the opportunity in his hands to build a different, more complete journey for himself and his descendants, Beto Gonzalez squandered it all away and really went no further than his ancestors in the journey of life. In the end, he was not a man capable of independent thought, nor was he a man capable of serving the Rule of Law. He was simply a servant to Bush’s whims. Who will ever use Beto Gonzalez in their employ again? Will he become Bush’s personal attorney? Will the Walker-Bush fortune ever repay Gonzalez in dollar amount what his service to Junior cost him in reputation? In the end, Beto Gonzalez proved himself to be just ... a bricklayer, a mason serving his master’s need to commit crimes against humanity free from the gauntlet of prosecution. Chertoff’s ideology is rooted in something much different than that and in the end may be rooted in the same kind of putrid ground which gave us Ken Starr and which breeds many “righteous” ones who are usually on the wrong side of morals, truth, and justice.
Second word to the wise. Don’t ever expect a Rule of Law kind of person to be nominated by Bush to replace Alberto Gonzalez. In his press statement this morning, Bush sounded like he is sore as hell. He struck no conciliatory notes at all and blamed Beto’s woes on a (democratic?) political witch-hunt.
It is a trademark of the Bushes that when the toilet is clogged, the just sit on it to sh*t some more.
