From Gonzales to the immigration debate, it seems that Republican lawmakers are either living in fantasy land, lying through their teeth or ignoring the real issues in favor of divisive scapegoating. They must be held accountable.

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From Gonzales to the immigration debate, it seems that Republican lawmakers are either living in fantasy land, lying through their teeth or ignoring the real issues in favor of divisive scapegoating. They must be held accountable.

In this issue:

1. No Wrongdoing at the DOJ??? WHAT!?

2. Divisive Scapegoating Has No Place in Immigration Debate

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No Wrongdoing at the DOJ??? WHAT!?

Last Wednesday, former Gonzales aide Monica Goodling testified before the House Judiciary Committee on the U.S. attorney firing scandal. Her testimony confirmed that a political litmus test was applied in the hiring and firing of even nonpolitical positions at the Justice Department, implied instances of possible perjury by other DOJ officials and revealed inappropriate conduct by Attorney General Gonzales. But Committee Republicans seemed not to even be listening -- they skipped like a broken record, delivering softball questions to Ms. Goodling and spouting known-to-be-untrue party talking points, seemingly unfazed by any information that emerged.

Here are some examples (quotes taken from transcript of 5/23/07 House Judiciary Committee hearing):

Rep. Lamar Smith (TX-21): "Finally, with regard to this investigation itself, we and our investigators see ever more clearly that the accusations of wrongdoing in these eight U.S. attorney dismissals don't seem to have legs."

Former Committee Chairman, Rep. James Sensenbrenner (WI-5):

• "It seems to me that with this fishing expedition there ain't no fish in the water, and we've spent an awful lot of time and an awful lot of money finding that out."
• "Isn't this an exercise of legitimate executive power which practically every president up to, including the current one, exercises all the time with officials within the executive branch subject to his appointment?"

Rep. Mike Pence (IN-6): "I -- again, I just would say to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in this committee, I'm troubled about the fact that we seem to be moving ever further down the road of the criminalization of politics."

Rep. Randy Forbes (VA-4): "So far throughout this hearing, there not only is no evidence of wrongdoing but there is no allegation of any wrongdoing on your part."

Rep. Steve King (IA-5): "And I will say that this is a circus without a cause, and it's time to drop this issue."

Rep. Tom Feeney (FL-24): "But in all the time I've spent listening to witnesses and reading materials, I haven't seen one shred of evidence to justify the time that we've taken on this."

Some of these representatives must believe that if you repeat a falsehood enough times, it will magically become the truth. The American people are not fooled.

NOTE TO THESE REPRESENTATIVES:
1. Read a newspaper (any major news publication in the country).
2. Read a history book.
3. READ THE CONSTITUTION.

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Divisive Scapegoating Has No Place in Immigration Debate

Debate on immigration reform has been heated in the Senate. A flawed yet hopefully salvageable bill (S. 1348) is on the floor -- at this point, it needs some serious fixes, but it contains the basic legislative architecture to recognize the contributions of hard working immigrants in our society and bring them out of the shadows.

Unfortunately, the debate is being poisoned by the introduction of hateful, punitive amendments that won't do anything to solve the real problems in our broken immigration system. We are depending on positive amendments to make the legislation workable and humane, but some senators have decided to use the bill as a vehicle for attacks not just on immigrants, but on our core American values.

Some of the most egregious examples:

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) has offered an amendment that would deny immigrants the path to earned legalization and erode critical due process protections that are the hallmark of our legal system. Cornyn would deny lawful permanent residents the opportunity to become U.S. citizens based on secret evidence, would unreasonably expand the definition of "aggravated felony" for undocumented immigrants and make any such crimes punishable RETROACTIVELY.

Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) offered an amendment that would outlaw state and local policies that prevent their employees -- including police and health and safety workers -- from inquiring about the immigration status of those they serve if there is "probable cause" to believe the individual being questioned is undocumented. In simple terms, this means that for undocumented immigrants, coming forward for help in any way could mean deportation -- the chilling effect would mean victims of harassment would continue to be terrorized, battered spouses would continue to be battered and these immigrants' legal recourse for wrongs committed against them would be severely limited. This cruel amendment failed (barely), but it would have established undocumented immigrants as not worthy of even basic health and safety protections.

Nobody wants porous borders. Nobody wants illegal immigration. But this debate is about who we are as a country. Will we fix the problems, while protecting the basic rights of immigrants, or will we choose the path that scapegoats our newcomers and dishonors our foundation and heritage as a nation of immigrants?

HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE

When Congress comes back from recess, we expect it won't be long until the Senate holds a Vote of No Confidence on Attorney General Gonzales. Many Republican Senators have publicly expressed grave concerns over Attorney General Gonzales or explicitly called for his resignation. Tell them: "Put your money where your mouth is!"

Don't let Senators get away with what Representatives are doing in putting partisanship and loyalty to the president over the facts and doing what's right for the country. We've extended our Gonzales Must Go petition drive until the week of the no-confidence vote. Please sign it, pass it on and spread the word!

pfaw.org/go/GonzalesMustGo

Submitter: Joan Brunwasser

Submitters Website: http://www.opednews.com/author/author79.html

Submitters Bio:

Joan Brunwasser is a co-founder of Citizens for Election Reform (CER) which since 2005 existed for the sole purpose of raising the public awareness of the critical need for election reform. Our goal: to restore fair, accurate, transparent, secure elections where votes are cast in private and counted in public. Because the problems with electronic (computerized) voting systems include a lack of transparency and the ability to accurately check and authenticate the vote cast, these systems can alter election results and therefore are simply antithetical to democratic principles and functioning.



Since the pivotal 2004 Presidential election, Joan has come to see the connection between a broken election system, a dysfunctional, corporate media and a total lack of campaign finance reform. This has led her to enlarge the parameters of her writing to include interviews with whistle-blowers and articulate others who give a view quite different from that presented by the mainstream media. She also turns the spotlight on activists and ordinary folks who are striving to make a difference, to clean up and improve their corner of the world. By focusing on these intrepid individuals, she gives hope and inspiration to those who might otherwise be turned off and alienated. She also interviews people in the arts in all their variations - authors, journalists, filmmakers, actors, playwrights, and artists. Why? The bottom line: without art and inspiration, we lose one of the best parts of ourselves. And we're all in this together. If Joan can keep even one of her fellow citizens going another day, she considers her job well done.


When Joan hit one million page views, OEN Managing Editor, Meryl Ann Butler interviewed her, turning interviewer briefly into interviewee. Read the interview here.

While the news is often quite depressing, Joan nevertheless strives to maintain her mantra: "Grab life now in an exuberant embrace!"


Joan has been Election Integrity Editor for OpEdNews since December, 2005. Her articles also appear at Huffington Post, RepublicMedia.TV and Scoop.co.nz.