July 31, 2007 [LINK / comment]
Gonzales under the gun
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has been coming under more scathing criticism from members of Congress in both parties, leading some to wonder how much longer he can keep his job. In today's Washington Post, Ruth Marcus wrote that "Gonzales once again dissembled and misled," but she doesn't think "he actually lied" during his latest appearance on Capitol Hill. This was in reference to a meeting with then-Attorney General John Ashcroft and whether Bush's warrantless wiretapping program was executed according to the constitutional standards of due process. Marcus concludes,
Consequently, the calls by some Democrats for a special prosecutor to consider whether Gonzales committed perjury have more than a hint of maneuvering for political advantage.
I checked my archives and found to my surprise that I haven't written anything about Gonzales in the past. Perhaps this is because he doesn't really elicit any strong opinions or feelings from me. When President Bush nominated him, I figured he was probably competent enough, but subsequent events put him on par with some of the more questionable Bush loyalists, such as Harriet Miers. (See October 2005.) Like Ashcroft, Rumsfeld, and other Bush cabinet buddies, Alberto "VO5" Gonzales has become more of a liability than an asset to this administration. The problem is that Bush is too weak right now to make a concession to the Democrats who are demanding that Gonzales be ousted. So, I would expect Gonzales to stay in office for a few more months, at least, and then after the furor has died down, perhaps he can quietly exit with a measure of dignity.
BVBL on TV
As illegal aliens prepare for another round of protests against any reform to the farcical status quo immigration policy, FOX-5 TV in Washington profiled Greg Letief, the guy behind the Black Velvet Bruce Li blog. Greg has been working overtime to let folks outside Northern Virginia know how bad the lawlessness has gotten (see my June 25 post), and now he is warning about the "Mexicans Without Frontiers" movement. (I'll bet the ones who still live in Mexico proper would object to their own borders being violated.) In person, he seems like quite a reasonable fellow, in contrast to the tone of his blog.
As for the planned "boycott," it would mean a lot more if they boycotted their places of employment, to see if our economy would come crashing down like many people seem to think.