In Praise of Alberto Gonzales
Bush’s eulogy for Alberto Gonzales’ career reads like satire:
As Attorney General and before that, as White House counsel, Al Gonzales has played a role in shaping our policies in the war on terror, and has worked tirelessly to make this country safer. The Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act and other important laws bear his imprint.
Things that also include his imprint: stripping Guantanamo detainees of their Geneva Convention rights!
Bush continued:
Under his leadership, the Justice Department has made a priority of protecting children from Internet predators, and made enforcement of civil rights laws a top priority.
But the NYT reported in June [behind their pay wall, but the abstract is free]:
[The] Justice Department has significantly altered government’s civil rights mission by aggressively pursuing religious discrimination cases while reducing its involvement in cases involving race;… agency has transferred or demoted some experienced civil rights litigators while increasing hires from religious-affiliated institutions of Justice Dept hires from selection of law schools.
The best line of Bush’s speech, however, follows the civil rights bit:
He aggressively and successfully pursued public corruption…
The President is right; Mr. Gonzales aggressively pursued corruption and, I believe most would say, was ultimately successful in realizing it to the fullest.
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