As I read the NY Times headline, Gonzales Said He Would Quit in Raid Dispute, I heard the virtual sound of hundreds of thousands of liberal bloggers laughing. You’ve got to be kidding, I said to myself. These suckers think a threat like this will make anyone back down? Who the hell cares whether they stay or leave? What, they think they’re doing their jobs so well that George Bush and House members should bow down and salute them?
I hope Bush and Congress call these suckers bluff. Let ’em go. Who needs ’em? What has Gonzales done for this country except draw it deeper into the morass of governmental criminality and unconstitutional conduct? What has Mueller done except be criminally negligent in the allowing the 9/11 attackers to wreak havoc on our country? What have either done to really fight terrorism at home? Their pursuit and prosecution of so-called terror suspects has made their agencies the laughingstock of legal jurisprudence. Either they win convictions against small fry whose danger to the U.S. is dubious; or they’ve spectacularly lost almost every one of the major cases they’ve pursued. Arguably the biggest fish, Moussaoui was convicted only because he stupidly refused to put on a case. What do these jokers have to crow about?
Now, they hope to use righteous indignation to cloud the issue of their unconstitutional search of a U.S. Congressmember’s office. They hope to browbeat the Congress into backing down from its implacable opposition to the search and their demand for the return of the materials. No Congressional Republicans pay especial attention to me. But if they would I’d say give ’em hell. Tell ”em you’ll be happy to facilitate their return to civilian life once they submit their letters of resignation.
The astute among you say that given Bush’s record, we’ll likely get somebody worse than the bodies currently sitting in these chairs if they do resign. But I say both Gonzales and Mueller stink to high heaven and I would shed nary a tear if they followed through on their hollow threat.
Of course, Bush’s sealing of the evidence for a 45-day cooling off period is designed to allow the issue to recede in the public’s consciousness; so at the end of that period the White House, FBI and Justice can quietly announce they’re refusing to return it. I hope to God that that doesn’t happen. I hope Congress keeps this issue simmering. Call Mueller and Gonzaless for more hearings so we can hear their lame excuses.
Let me make clear that I’m not in favor of letting thieving Congressmembers off the hook. But let the FBI and Justice Department build their cases in the same way that previous bribery cases have been pursued. When it prosecuted Abscam, these same agencies didn’t need to usurp Congressional privilege and the separation of powers to bring down seven representatives and two senators. Let the current FBI and Justice Department earn their convictions the old fashioned way: let ’em earn it instead of steal it.
