the hate mail on this one is unprecedented, 95% in opposition, and across the political spectrum…
CNN: Ruben Navarrette
Gonzales being whacked like a piñata
The nation’s first Hispanic attorney general is being pressured to resign by — pick ‘em — Democrats trying to make hay, an elite media that long opposed him, civil libertarians who condemn administration policy on detainees and wiretaps, conservatives who think Gonzales is too liberal, and liberals who think he’s too conservative….
The attorney general does have one person in his corner. President Bush came out swinging Tuesday, insisting that Gonzales has his support and warning Democrats not to go on “a partisan fishing expedition aimed at honorable public servants.”
I’ve interviewed Gonzales twice since he became attorney general. During the last interview, which took place three weeks ago in San Diego — that is, before the controversy erupted — I asked about the firings of the U.S. attorneys. He told me what he has told others: It was about performance.
“I have an obligation…to ensure that we have the best people we can have in here,” he said. “All I will say is that the decisions that were made…were based upon performance, and there are many factors that go into that.”
An avid baseball fan, Gonzales even pitched an analogy. “What I care about is — are we trading up?”
As a political columnist, I cover liars for a living. And yet, I’d say Gonzales is pretty much as advertised by his old friend, President Bush: an honorable public servant.
The above is from Navarrette’s CNN column. Here’s his regular Washington Post-syndicated version:
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales shouldn’t go quietly. In fact, he shouldn’t go at all.
Not when the evidence suggests that most of the folks who might have acted inappropriately in the firings of the eight U.S. attorneys work not at the Justice Department, but at the White House. And not when many of those who are now clamoring for Gonzales to leave office are clear that they never wanted him there in the first place.
posted Mar 23, 2007, 3:54pm by Rodolpho Carrasco
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