Gonzales Lied
Buried in today’s New York Times is this story:Democrats Urge Perjury Inquiry for Gonzales For those of you who are caring enough about the constitution this should be today’s top story. Instead the NYT chose to bury it somewhere in the middle of the paper.
Let me intervene on behalf of the caring:
Watching Gonzales yesterday I was dumb struck at his total and complete contempt for Congress. He laughed, he joked, he sneered and he whined. He brazenly lied. He contorted the truth so many times he left even some of the conservative senators struggling to find the right words to describe his arrogance and his subversion.
He should be fired. And then he should be charged with perjury.
For those of you who have defended Gonzales throughout these hearings because you view them as a “partisan witch hunt” I can offer you no solace. He is an arrogant law breaker. To continue to protect him for the sake of Republican party loyalty is now to line up against the constitution.
So which is it? Party or country?
George Bush has already taken up his position: he has announced that he will prevent the Justice Department form executing any indictments that Congress might pass. So he has effectively said that he is above the law: not only does he not see the need to comply with Congress’s constitutionally supported right to information, but he now sees no need to obey the law in any way whatever. He is saying that he is the law.
“L’etat: c’est moi”. So said King Louis XIV. I am the state.
“The law: that’s me”. So said King George.
There is no substantive difference between the two positions. None. To support Bush, Cheney, and Gonzales in their hell bent defiance of our elected representatives is to support the destruction of our system of government.
It is that: repairing the damage to the constitution, that this fight is about. It is not partisan. It is not a witch hunt.
And to compare with Clinton is a massive disservice to morality. Clinton lied about a matter that was personal and not covered by the law. Gonzales lied about a matter clearly defined as being within the law. The constitution itself is at stake. Republicans must hate America with a passion if they continue to allow Bush and his team’s arrogant contempt to continue.
The further matter of contempt charges being filed against Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten is a parallel effort, this time by the House, to rein in the monarchy Bush has established. It is one thing to answer a subpoena by turning up and refusing to answer specific questions, or by turning up and not answering any questions. It is entirely another simply not to turn up. That is unprecedented. No one, ever in the history of America, has simply not turned up. Think about that. No one has ever attempted to ignore Congress the way that Bush is now trying to do. No one. I imagine many have thought about it, but at the end of the day everyone up until now has had sufficient regard for our system of government to buckle and answer to Congress.
Until Bush.
So to defend him and his entourage is to attack American freedom at its very core: the constitution.
His contempt is not just for Congress. It is also for America.
That’s why yesterday was so breathtaking, and why it should have been front page news.
Shame on the Times. And shame on anyone caught defending King George.
