"Yeah, uh, Sen. Schumer came into my office and me for my autograph," Gonzales said while moving boxes out of his office yesterday afternoon. "He said it was for his nephew in law school, and I was like, sure! So I signed on the little line he pointed to, and he walked out of my office cackling maniacally. That's how he normally laughs, so, like, I didn't think anything of it. Next thing I know, like, someone told me I'd been fired. I was like, 'No way! George is my friend!' But they were like, 'no, dude, you fired yourself,' and they started laughing at me. Why is everybody always laughing at me?"
I agree with Pat Buchanan that the whole attack on Gonzales is based on a "nothing-burger of a scandal", but the truth is that AG has not been much of an AG, and the whole botched firing represented rank incompetence. His position does seem like a buddy call on the part of GWB. I suppose we should be glad that the man did not make it to the SCOTUS.
as opposed to the shining competence of george tenet, janet reno, sandy berger? it's like Wawison (my pet name for the childish Larison who's always getting cited by people who should know better) and company think GWB invented cronyism. washington is all about cronyism, and always has been. more often than not, kiss-up chuckleheads who are barely qualified to be selling ginsu knives get the leadership positions, because they have to keep the natives (i.e. the civilian lifer employees) happy but also their politcal overlords. (and if you don't think they are chuckleheads, watch the 60 Mins interview with Tenet. you can tell he drooled as a kid)
ReplyDeleteit's why (real) conservatives want *not* more and better government, but LESS government overall. government has always been this way and probably always will.
I agree; maybe I'm going too much on appearances, but when I hear Gonzales on Laura Ingraham he just doesn't sound as with it as someone like, say, Condi Rice or John Bolton...
ReplyDelete...of course, John Bolton is a good example of what happens when someone competent gets nominated...
LOL to Wawison, just thinking of Elmer Fudd singing "O Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes awe caw-aw-wing....."
Tenet thing = another non-story.
more often than not, kiss-up chuckleheads who are barely qualified to be selling ginsu knives get the leadership positions,
ReplyDeleteLOL! Kathleen, you definitely have what my mother used to call "the gift of gab."
Sure, it is easy to pick on Al Gonzales. But I'll defend him.
ReplyDeleteHe and I were at the same law firm way back when, when I was a baby lawyer. (We probably knew each other by name, but no more acquaintance than that.) Lawyers that I respect had a very high opinion of him at that time.
He has been counsel to W both as Governor and as President. Obviously this client (currently head of Article II branch of government) likes his work. So Al is more than a friend -- he has done work for W for quite a few years. And Al also served on the Texas Supreme Court -- while one may disagree with a decision here and there, there was never a question of competence.
So if the entire basis of his alleged incompetence is in this non-issue (coupled with political motivation from Congress, coupled with career types having their knives pointed at the boss's back), I'll suggest that maybe this is a huge jumping-to-a-conclusion.
OTOH, we have the Waco and Elian Gonzales cases during the tenure of a recent AG. No comparison, IMHO.