It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of the Bush administration, and that I’m terribly disappointed in the results of the 2004 presidential election. But I’m growing even more alarmed about the early actions of this “same as the old boss” president in his new term. He wants to replace all of his cabinet positions with hand-picked yes-men and yes-women to eliminate any dissenting opinions from his closest advisers. Evidently Bush can’t handle reasonable dissent, as evidenced by the reduced role Colin Powell was forced to play in the latter part of his term as Secretary of State.
One of those Bush picks is for Alberto Gonzales, whom George Bush would like to see replace John Ashcroft in the Attorney General position. This is an extremely dangerous move, in my opinion, and could further threaten the stability of already shaky international relationships. Largely because of Gonzales’ past work, Bush saw fit to disregard the Geneva Conventions and allow torture of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. Powell publicly opposed this move, and felt that all prisoners should be treated as prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions. Gonzales, on the other hand, has described the Geneva Conventions as “obsolete” and “quaint” in official memos.
Why would we want to place this person in the position of Attorney General? Do we care that little about human rights? Or do those rights only apply to Americans in Bush’s eyes?
In filling his cabinet only with ardent supporters, and with Republican control of Congress wrapped up, Bush is preparing to steamroll anyone who gets in his way, and that is not an acceptable or responsible way to run a Presidency of the United States.
If these issues concern you as well, please call your state Senators today and urge them NOT to vote for confirmation of Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General. Today, 60 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, let’s make a stand for human rights, not against them.
For more about Gonzales’ record, see the following links.