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July 26, 2007

That's the Ticket!

Some of the most jaw-dropping action yet to come out of the Bush Administration has been the testimony of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Listening to some clips of it on the radio on the way home last night made me laugh right out loud – along with those in the gallery. Not because it was funny, but because it was so incredibly outrageous I just couldn't believe what I was hearing. Andrew Cohen from the Washington Post also found it appalling:

Forget about the politicization of the Justice Department. Forget about the falling morale there. Forget about the rise in violent crime in some of our biggest cities. Forget about the events leading up to the U.S. Attorney scandal and the way he has handled the prosecutor purge since. Forget about the Department's role in allowing warrantless domestic surveillance. Forget about the contorted and contradictory accounts he's offered before in his own defense.

Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales deserves to be fired for his testimony Tuesday alone; for morphing into Jon Lovitz's famous "pathological liar" character (or maybe just one of the Marx Brothers) as he tried to dodge and duck responsibility before the Senate Judiciary Committee not just for his shameful leadership at Justice but also his shameless role in visiting an ailing John Ashcroft in the hospital to try to strong-arm him into renewing the warrantless surviellance program. Can anyone out there remember a worse, less-inspiring, less confidence-inducing performance on Capitol Hill? I cannot.

No reasonable person watching Gonzales' tragically comedic performance Tuesday's on Capitol Hill-- especially his miserable exchange with Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) in late morning-- can any longer defend his appalling lack of competence, courage and credibility.

If you didn't get a chance to hear it, go read Cohen's post because he has a transcript that will blow you away. For those of you who don't like to read lengthy articles, here is my own paraphrase of the testimony:

SCHUMER: Are we talking about just one, or more than one secret program confirmed by the president in 2005?

GONZALES: One.

SCHUMER: You told us last February there was no serious disagreement about the program the president confirmed, but Jim Comey told us that almost everyone was ready to resign over concerns about a classified program. You later confirmed in a public press conference that Comey's testimony referred to the same program you had earlier said caused no serious dissent.

GONZALES: I'm told I misspoke, but I went back and clarified it with the reporter.

SCHUMER: You did misspeak?

GONZALES: Yes.

SCHUMER: When did you clarify it with the reporter, and which reporter?

GONZALES: Dan Eggen at The Washington Post two days later.

SCHUMER: We'll ask him about that. So it was just one program?

GONZALES: The president talked about a set of activities...

SCHUMER: Yes or no. One program?

GONZALES: One set of intelligence activities.

SCHUMER: You're deceiving us. First you say there has been no disagreement, then Comey says the dissent rocked the Justice Department to the rafters. You said Comey talked about the program the president confirmed. Then you said you had misspoken and clarified it with a reporter two days later. How can we trust you when you keep changing the story so you can wiggle out of trouble? So what did you say to the reporter?

GONZALES: I did not speak to the reporter.

SCHUMER: Oh, you didn't? [LAUGHTER] OK. What did your spokesperson say to the reporter?

GONZALES: I don't know.

SCHUMER: I'll give you another chance: What did your spokesperson say?

GONZALES: I don't know, but I'll find out and get back to you.

I am so tired of liars.

Posted by Becky at July 26, 2007 01:22 PM