Mandate, My Ass

Democrats "as a group are uneasy" about attacking and defending on character, says Harold Ickes, a former Clinton aide who heads the Media Fund, a political ad organization. "But they damn well better get the stomach," he adds, because "we've seen way too many of our candidates taken down on issues of character."

"ALBERTO R. GONZALES missed an important opportunity yesterday to rectify his position, and that of President Bush, on the imprisonment and interrogation of foreign detainees. At the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing on his nomination to be attorney general, Mr. Gonzales repeatedly was offered the chance to repudiate a legal judgment that the president is empowered to order torture in violation of U.S. law and immunize torturers from punishment. He declined to do so...."

The American Civil Liberties Union today called Attorney General nominee Alberto Gonzales’ confirmation hearing testimony vague, evasive, and said that it ultimately raises more questions than answers about the Bush administration’s role in formulating legal policies surrounding the abuse of prisoners in American custody.

"While Gonzales hoped to quiet concerns about his nomination in today’s confirmation hearings, he ironically refused to answer some of the important questions about his policies that may have contributed to widespread torture and abuse," said Anthony D. Romero, ACLU Executive Director. "Gonzales couldn’t even ‘remember’ if he approved or agreed with a now disavowed memo addressed to him in 2002 that justified certain torture techniques."

While as a matter of policy, the American Civil Liberties Union neither opposes nor endorses the Gonzales nomination, Romero said that the nominee’s testimony during today’s hearing has been frustrating at best.

Uh, guys? You're the organization that defends the Bill of Rights. First thing: No torture. Mm-kay? And what's this "vague, evasive... raised more questions than it answered" wording? Put it later in the press release. With the first line, you're supposed to be going for the hearts and minds of America here, framing your sound bite. Say "Alberto Gonzalez refused to directly answer questions about his justification for torture, which apparently led to the widespread abuses at Abu Ghraib."

Senator Joe Biden, the one who's supposed to be the attack dog on the committee, going after Gonzalez? He spends so much time in a lecture that ended with "We're looking for candor, old buddy. I love you, but you're not very candid so far" that Gonzalez didn't have to be candid -- his time was up.

Here's from the transcript of Meet the Press this week. Mention of Gonzalez? None. Not one word.

Dick Meyer actually gave a pretty good smackdown of Gonzalez on CBS.com... but how much of one are we going to get on The CBS Evening News? That would be "none".

Then there's this whole Armstrong Williams fiasco. No sympathy for the guy here -- he took himself down. But three Senators wrote a letter to the White House demanding explanations on this payola scheme. Where the hell were they when Gonzalez was nominated? Why didn't they write a letter saying, "Fuck you, send somebody who's not a torturer"?

Amy Sullivan points out something that the blogs have been going on about for months: The Dems keep hiring the same losers -- as in, inept, unable-to-win advisors -- over and over again.

Meanwhile, in the last ten years, among many other things:

• The Repubs have been able to impeach a President based on an extramarital affair, and even though the impeachment failed and the Repubs lost two Speakers of the House of Representatives within a month for the same offense during the impeachment, Clinton is looked upon as the one without morals.
• Using the fear and solidarity of 9/11 as a backdrop, and over the protests of the world, the US government lied us into an illegal war that we don't know how to get out of.
• Saying the tax system is broken, Bush has lied repeatedly about the budget and its problems, and given huge tax breaks to wealthy people while lying to the poor and middle class about how much "tax relief" they would get. For the past three years, cities, counties, and states have been desperately trying to take up the slack.
• Bush lied about how No Child Left Behind works, and then he lied about funding.
• Bush lied about AIDS funding to Africa. He said $15 billion; it hasn't been delivered.
• Former Attorney General John Ashcroft is more worried about prostitution, bare breasts on statues, and invasion of people's rights than he is about terrorists. He captured hundreds of "terror suspects". Convictions: None.
• We're setting up permanent facilities in Guantanamo Bay, to hold "enemy combatants" against whom we have little or no evidence. Funny, I thought when you had little or no evidence you were supposed to let them go free.
• The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth said Kerry lied about everything he did in Vietnam, even though they had no evidence to the contrary and weren't anywhere near him to find out. They were discredited, but not before they had gobs of free airtime and discussion on news programs.
• Max Cleland, a decorated veteran who lost three limbs in Vietnam, lost his Georgia Senator's seat to a man who equated Cleland with Saddam Hussien and Osama bin Laden.
  

# posted by filkertom : 2:25 PM