Gonzales rapped as president's 'yes man'

[maddezmom]

By Lara Jakes Jordan, Associated Press Writer | May 19, 2007

WASHINGTON --Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says his long friendship with President Bush makes it easier to say "no" to him on sticky legal issues. His critics, however, say Gonzales is far more likely to say "yes" -- leaving the Justice Department vulnerable to a politically determined White House.

Probably not since Watergate has an attorney general been so closely bound to the White House's bidding. In pushing counterterror programs that courts found unconstitutional and in stacking the ranks of federal prosecutors with Republican loyalists, Gonzales has put Bush's stamp on an institution that is supposed to operate largely free of the White House and beyond the reach of politics.

"This intertwining of the political with the running of the Justice Department has gone on in other administrations, both Republican and Democrat," said Paul Rothstein, a professor at Georgetown Law School. "But I think it's being carried to a fine art by this president. They leave no stone unturned to politicize where they think the law will permit it. And they push the line very far."

Gonzales, a friend and adviser to Bush since their days in Texas, calls their close relationship "a good thing."

"Being able to go and having a very candid conversation and telling the president: 'Mr. President, this cannot be done. You can't do this,' -- I think you want that," Gonzales told reporters this week. "And I think having a personal relationship makes that, quite frankly, much easier always to deliver bad news."

more:http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2007/05/19/justice_dept_independence_at_risk/

[jobycom]

1. It's not the "yes" or "no" that got Gonzales the job.

It was the code of silence. Back when Bush was governor, he was summoned to jury duty, and turned it into a big PR stunt, trying to look tough on crime. Gonzales was his attorney, and once he got before the judge, he argued that Bush should be excused from jury duty because he might one day be called upon to pardon the same person, and this could create a conflict of interest.

The media laughed at the weak excuse and treated the whole thing as a side show, but it had gotten more serious than that. Once Bush began to fill out the paperwork, he realized that the questions he was asked would require him to either lie about or reveal past convictions, and who knows what else. Gonzales got him out of having to file anything about his background.

It wasn't just that incident, but that's indicative. Gonzales proved that he would be more than a "yes" man. He proved he would perjure himself, would carry his secrets to the grave, and would remain loyal in the most criminal meaning of the word. He would be a loyal crime lieutenant. That's why Bush hired him. Gonzales would be his partner in crime. With anyone else, including Ashcroft, Bush had to worry about the appointee gaining a conscience. Gonzales was in it as deep as Bush, and wanted to be. Not to mention that Gonzales knew where some of the bodies were buried, and helped bury a few of them.

THAT's why Gonzales was chosen. Not "yes," but pure loyalty.