Democrats ready to confirm defender of torture as new US attorney general
Gonzales is, if anything, more consistent in his hostility to constitutional principles and civil liberties. He is infamous for having authored a 2002 memo arguing that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to the war against Afghanistan. He is also implicated in discussions within the administration on legal justifications for the use of torture, military tribunals, and the claim that the president, as commander-in-chief in the “war on terror,” has virtually unlimited powers.
What a wonderful person to have as Attorney General… Do you feel safer now?
Demonstrating their utter prostration before Bush and the Republican right, and their indifference to democratic rights, leading Democrats have already announced that Gonzales will have little trouble being confirmed by the Senate. Although the Republicans wield a majority in the chamber, the Democrats have more than sufficient votes to mount a filibuster and thereby block a nomination. They have gone out of their way to make clear, however, that they will not exercise that option.
The Democrats in Congress no doubt wonder why they lost the election. Because they stand for nothing and will fight for nothing, that’s why.