The latest issue of TIME Magazine includes an interesting article focusing on George Bush's refusal to rid his cabinet of Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez. Titled "Why Bush Won't Axe Gonzalez," author Christopher Morris lays out four reasons the embattled leader of the Department of Justice remains in office.
I find reason #3 most intriguing:
"If Gonzales goes, the White House fears that other losses will follow. Top Bush advisers argue that Democrats are after scalps and would not stop at Gonzales. Congressional judiciary committees have already subpoenaed Harriet Miers and Karl Rove in the firings of U.S. Attorneys last year. Republicans are loath to hand Democrats some high-profile casualties to use in the 2008 campaign. Stonewalling, they believe, is their best way to avoid another election focused on corruption issues."
So to avoid handing the Democrats a victory on corruption, Bush is hanging onto the biggest political hack on his cabinet? This is the same man who hired and fired federal prosecutors based on political loyalties ("loyal Bushies" were kept around), not on their ability to convict criminals.
We already know that there has been plenty of corruption in this administration, but keeping Gonzalez around only magnifies how deeply it runs. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, for example, received numerous political donations from non-environmentally friendly companies like ConAgra during his senatorial and gubernatorial career. This same man is in charge of protecting our national parks, but he advocates opening our national forests for logging.
As the TIME article points out, there are a lot of hidden skeletons in this administration, and Alberto Gonzalez, for all his fumbling in front of Congress, may actually be protecting them from coming out.
MSNBC coverage of Alberto Gonzalez' recent Senate testimony.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment