Banana Republic

Seems Alberto Gonzalez can’t do anything right. Latest news is that when Alberto was white house counsel, he raced to then Attorney General John Ashcroft’s hospital bed to get Ashcroft to sign off on a wiretapping law that Ashcroft’s own justice department said was illegal. Also racing through Washington streets, sirens blaring and lights flashing, was Deputy Attorney General James B. Comey, who wanted to warn Ashcroft about the White House’s plans. Comey won that mad dash. Alberto, along with White House Chief of Staff Andy Card, could not get the known right winger Ashcroft, who had such trouble with semi-nude statuary in halls of the Department of Justice that he had them draped with fabric, to sign off on the plan. FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III also had trouble with the plan, to the extent that he prepared a letter of resignation, as did several other high ranking DOJ staffers.

One would think that when your AG and FBI chief both believe that a wire-tapping initiative is illegal, then the chief executive would take notice. The NYTIMES reports that GWB decided to continue the program in its illegal state until it could be made legal. Sort of like being pregnant for a while.
I think this fits into the “high crimes and misdemeanors” clause of the Constitution of the United States. But then again, this administration, and I include the Republican majorities that existed in both the House and the Senate at the time, has shredded the constitution. The President was above the law.


“Checks and Balances.” It’s more than just a phrase.