News

The news for today (and it is pretty big news) is that the Senate has begun their Confirmation hearing for Alberto Gonzales for the position of Attorney General. Gonzales is a true rags to riches story. He is the son of Mexican immigrants who rose through the ranks to become the White House Legal Counsel. He is a perfect example of affirmative action like Clarence Thomas is, although like Clarence Thomas I am sure that he would deny that this is the case. He was very successful before he met Gubernatorial Candidate Bush in 1994 although knowing Bush has done nothing but good things for him. He became the Governor's General Counsel, after which he became a Texas secretary of state, Texas Supreme Court Justice, and then White House Legal Counsel. As the Governor's General Counsel, it was his job to inform the Governor on legal points on arguments for clemency in capital cases. There were several times when he failed to inform Governor Bush of possibly relevant points in a case resulting in the prisoner being executed. As a private lawyer he worked for a firm one of whose clients was Enron. As a Texas Supreme Court Justice he refused to recuse himself when Enron came before the court. As the White House Legal Counsel he wrote a memo calling the Geneva Convention "quaint", among other things. A memo that he wrote in 2002 allowed the government to stretch the definition of torture that at least indirectly caused the incidents of prisoner abuse in Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib in Iraq. I was able to listen to some of the confirmation hearings today and I think many of the Senators are hitting him hard and deservedly so. While I think that he should be pushed hard, ultimately I think that he should be confirmed. I really don't like Bush, and I really disagree with his idea of what is good and right. Gonzales seems to be a really weaselly lawyer,but I would rather have the devil in front of me. I really hope the Senate Democrats don't blow their wad by failing to confirm Gonzales. The Democrats have to choose their battles and if they have several early successes, they will be accused of being obstructionist. This will probably turn the people against them and there are going to be other important fights ahead.

Today was a bad day in Iraq. 9 people were killed, 7 by a roadside bomb in Baghdad and two in a firefight in western Iraq. This brings the total for January to 17 and the total for the war to 1350. So when does the draft start?