WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) has chosen White House counsel Alberto Gonzales, a Texas confidant and one of the most prominent Hispanics in the administration, to succeed Attorney General John Ashcroft (news - web sites), sources close to the White House said Wednesday.
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Ashcroft announced his resignation on Tuesday, along with Commerce Secretary Don Evans, a Texas friend of the president's.
After a National Security Council meeting, Bush was sitting down Wednesday with Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites), another figure being closely watched for signs of whether he will stay or go. Powell has been largely noncommital when asked about his plans.
Gonzales, 49, has long been rumored as a leading candidate for a Supreme Court vacancy if one develops. Speculation increased after Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist announced he has thyroid cancer.
Gonzales' career has been linked with Bush for at least a decade, serving as general counsel when Bush was governor of Texas, and then as secretary of state and as a justice on the Texas Supreme Court.
Gonzales has been at the center of developing Bush's positions on balancing civil liberties with waging the war on terrorism ? opening the White House counsel to the same line of criticism that has dogged Ashcroft.
For instance, Gonzales publicly defended the administration's policy ? essentially repudiated by the Supreme Court and now being fought out in the lower courts ? of detaining certain terrorism suspects for extended periods without access to lawyers or courts.
He also wrote a controversial February 2002 memo in which Bush claimed the right to waive anti-torture law and international treaties providing protections to prisoners of war. That position drew fire from human rights groups, which said it helped led to the type of abuses uncovered in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.
Some conservatives also have quietly questioned Gonzales' credentials on core social issues. And he once was a partner in a Houston law firm which represented the scandal-ridden energy giant Enron.
Originally posted by psyko514 who's alberto gonzalez?
is this good or bad?
Doesn't sound nearly as conservative as JA. Actually voted against Parental Nofication for abortions while on the Texas Supreme court. I am sure that makes many conservatives nervous.
Originally posted by woodman Doesn't sound nearly as conservative as JA. Actually voted against Parental Nofication for abortions while on the Texas Supreme court. I am sure that makes many conservatives nervous.
on the news, they said many republicans consider him to be too liberal.
Not a bad sign.
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In time of war he doesnt even believe in Geneva Conventions hahah
The concern about possible future prosecution for war crimes?and that it might even apply to Bush adminstration officials themselves? is contained in a crucial portion of an internal January 25, 2002, memo by White House counsel Alberto Gonzales obtained by NEWSWEEK. It urges President George Bush declare the war in Afghanistan, including the detention of Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters, exempt from the provisions of the Geneva Convention.
Originally posted by Peacemaker For instance, Gonzales publicly defended the administration's policy ? essentially repudiated by the Supreme Court and now being fought out in the lower courts ? of detaining certain terrorism suspects for extended periods without access to lawyers or courts.
He also wrote a controversial February 2002 memo in which Bush claimed the right to waive anti-torture law and international treaties providing protections to prisoners of war. That position drew fire from human rights groups, which said it helped led to the type of abuses uncovered in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.
So he doesn't give a damn about the US Supreme Court nor international treaties. Yeah, that's really good
For instance, Gonzales publicly defended the administration's policy ? essentially repudiated by the Supreme Court and now being fought out in the lower courts ? of detaining certain terrorism suspects for extended periods without access to lawyers or courts.
He also wrote a controversial February 2002 memo in which Bush claimed the right to waive anti-torture law and international treaties providing protections to prisoners of war. That position drew fire from human rights groups, which said it helped led to the type of abuses uncovered in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.
Some conservatives also have quietly questioned Gonzales' credentials on core social issues. And he once was a partner in a Houston law firm which represented the scandal-ridden energy giant Enron.
That says it all right there.. He is bad for our country and bad for us.
In November, you can vote for America's next president or its first dictator.
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