Worst AG Ever?

[BurtWorm]

[slackmaster]

1. Meese by a mile

No question about it.

[BurtWorm]

3. I would have said Ashcroft if you'd asked me last week.

But the more I know about Gonzales, the more I think he's a spineless Bush toadie, bending over to make the boss happy. The perfect fascist tool.

[MADem]

5. Mitchell did time for conspiracy, obstruction of justice and perjury

On February 21, 1975, Mitchell was found guilty of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury and sentenced to two and a half to eight years in prison for his role in the Watergate break-in and cover-up, which he dubbed the White House horrors. Tape recordings made by President Nixon and the testimony of others involved confirmed that Mitchell had participated in meetings to plan the break-in of the Democratic party's national headquarters in the Watergate Hotel. In addition, he had met, on at least three occasions, with the president in an effort to cover up White House involvement after the burglars were discovered and arrested. In 1972, he warned reporter Carl Bernstein about a forthcoming Watergate-related article: "Katie Graham's gonna get her tit caught in a big fat wringer if that's published." This threat against the Washington Post publisher is considered the most famous threat in the history of American journalism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_N._Mitchell

So he gets my vote...thus far. Alberto's story hasn't been fully written yet.

[cosmik debris]

11. I'm with you MADem

I lived through thew Watergate Era and I can't forget. Mitchell was an outright criminal. So far, Gonzales it just a stooge. I see an enormous difference.

[BurtWorm]

16. Who will have caused the most damage by the time they leave office?

That's the yardstick I'm measuring by. I'm arguing that Gonzalez's Grand Larceny of power from the other branches is more damaging than Mitchell's base thuggery.

[cosmik debris]

23. It is not clear to me

That Gonzales is the culprit. I see him as a mouthpiece for a larger conspiracy to seize absolute power. I see him as the Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf to Cheney's Saddam. Gonzales says what he is told to say. He is just the mouth, not the brains or the hands.

[BurtWorm]

26. That's what makes him so "offal," if you know what I mean.

He's the perfect vehicle for a power grab, a cipher with absolutely no principles but loyalty to the paymasters.

[MADem]

33. Not Baghdad Bob, but Washington Willie!!! n/t

[slackmaster]

28. I know about Ed Meese's personal finances

I worked for the bank that held three mortgages on his home, and was willing to offer him a fourth one in spite of his terrible credit history.

I can say with personal knowledge that Ed Meese was a crook, and intimately tied in with the robber barons of the Reagan "kitchen cabinet".

[MADem]

29. Oh, certainly, he was a crook, but this record is hard to beat

He was at the nexus of much, if not all, of this exercise in Constitutional abrogation:

John N. Mitchell, United States Attorney General under Richard Nixon, referred to the events surrounding the Watergate scandal as the "White House Horrors". More than 70 people were convicted of crimes related to Watergate (some pleaded guilty before trial).

Here is a listing of much of the criminality involved:

Breaking into Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office.
Mitchell gave approval to the break-in at the Watergate.
G. Gordon Liddy proposed firebombing the Brookings Institution.
E. Howard Hunt fabricated documents implicating John Kennedy in the assassination of South Vietnamese President Diem.
John Ehrlichman ordered FBI Director L. Patrick Gray to take possession of the files in Hunt's safe, keeping them secret from prosecutors.
Gray destroyed the evidence from Hunt's safe.
Watergate investigator Henry Petersen gave John Dean secret grand jury testimony.
Gray at the FBI gave Dean access to all FBI investigation files.
Creation of the White House Plumbers to plug leaks through the use of illegal wiretaps.
Sandwedge: The Jack Caulfield operation designed to orchestrate a massive campaign to spy on the Democrats.
Ehrlichman claimed he did not know in advance about the Ellsberg break-in; he knew.
Gemstone: The Liddy operation to kidnap students who might disrupt the Republican convention in 1972; use prostitutes to compromise Democratic politicians. Attorney General Mitchell objected to the plan on the grounds it cost too much; he later approved a scaled-down plan. Mitchell, Haldeman and Jeb Magruder approved of Gemstone.
Hush money paid to Watergate break-in defendants.
Nixon promised clemency to Watergate criminals.
Caulfield sent to Chappaquiddick Island to pose as a reporter to dig up dirt on Edward Kennedy before all the leaks.
Nixon is heard on the tapes telling Ehrlichman in April 1973 that he should hint to Dean to stay on the reservation because in the end the only man who can grant Dean clemency and save his ability to practice law is the president.
Charles Colson was guilty of offering clemency to Hunt at Nixon's orders.
Nixon told Petersen to stay out of the Ellsberg psychiatrist's break-in on the grounds that an investigation would compromise national security.
Nixon proposed to Alexander Haig and Fred Buzhardt that they manufacture evidence -- a missing dictabelt tape -- wanted by Judge John Sirica; both refused.
Nixon ordered the IRS to audit the tax returns of Larry O'Brien, head of the Democratic National Committee.
Nixon ordered the IRS to stop an investigation of Howard Hughes.
Huston Plan: In June 1970 Tom Huston persuaded the heads of the CIA, DIA, and NSA to approve a plan for black bag jobs against "enemies" of the Nixon administration. (J. Edgar Hoover opposed the Huston Plan; Nixon, fearful Hoover would blackmail him by leaking word of the plan, dropped it.)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_horrors"

[demosincebirth]

25. I agree. Meese was a snake with two heads

[long_green]

2. God, what a choice. Can't we just put all four up on the

Mt Rushmore of shitty AG's?

[htuttle]

4. We currently seem to find ourselves with the "Worst Everything Ever"

Worst AG, Worst President, Worst VP, Worst Cabinet Secretaries, Worst Congress, Poorest Excuse for an Opposition Party, Worst News Media, Worst Corporate Leaders, Worst Religious Leaders, etc...

[myrna minx]

7. Well, at least they've succeeded at something.

They are the worst of the worst. It's just a bloody shame that it is at our and the Iraqi's expense.

[FSogol]

6. Its a 4-way tie! n/t

[Mist]

8. Mitchell was a real piece of work, and Meese was involved in a

variety of corrupt deals (Wedtech, IIRC), but Gonzalez is without doubt the worst by far. His nickname is "Torture" Gonzalez, after all. He has brought nothing but corruption and shame to the country. "Heck of a job, Berto!"

[On the Road]

15. That's What I'm Thinking

Gonzalez is going beyond mere corruption and obstructing justice to protect the president. He's engaged in a wholesale gutting of the Bill of Rights. That's what makes him stand apart in my mind.

[MrModerate]

9. I would have said Mitchell up 'til a few weeks ago . . .

But Gonzales is looking scarier every day. The others were just politicos doing their bosses' bidding, but Gonzales is leading an assault on the other two branches which, if successful, could damage or destroy our form of government. He is a traitor and a war-crimes enabler, and when (if!) this administration ever leaves office, should be prosecuted and locked up forever.

[AzDar]

10. Gonzales= Renfield: "I'm coming, Master"..... n/t

[ChairmanAgnostic]

12. playtime for Gonzo. No doubt.

He is smarter than Ashcroft, and much smarmier and deadlier. Ashcroft was a crazed zealot. Gonzo plans to destroy our constitution.

[madokie]

13. water board boy is running away with it, I didn't think anyone could top

asscraft

[EFerrari]

14. In rendering the Geneva Conventions "quaint", Torquemada

also rendered the idea of "justice" quaint.

So, as AG, he's just another empty suit now.

[Orrex]

17. A Repub friend's (encouraging) comment about Janet Reno

He used to say that because of Waco, Randy Johnson, and Elian Gonzales, Janet Reno was, hands down, the worst AG ever. Then Ashcroft came along and easily knocked her out of the top spot. And then Alberto swooped in and dethroned Ashcroft.

Now, my friend says Reno "wasn't that bad after all."

[BurtWorm]

19. All I can say to your friend is, "What the fuck is the matter with your

brain that you could ever have thought Janet Reno was the worst AG ever?!" What the fuck is wrong with those peabrains on the right that they allowed their fear of women (and presumed lesbianism) to cloud their judgments and enable real monsters like Ashcroft and Gonzales in that office? How infuriating! :grr:

[Orrex]

21. Well, he *is* a Republican--I give him credit for evolving at last

I remember that he got really steamed about Waco, and then the whole Randy Johnson story sent his blood pressure through the roof. By the time Elian hit shore, my pal was ready to jump on any perceived over-stepping of authority. I think that he hated Reno because she was AG at the time, but (knowing him) I say that he'd likely have hated whoever was at the helm.

But at least he's seeing the error of his ways, FWIW.

[BurtWorm]

22. I'll give your friend that.

Most Republicans--but worse, most far, far right-wingers, who think Republicans are socialists--totally cut the Bushists slack for all of their power-grabbing, claiming it's justified by the alleged war on terror. They can't forgive Reno for completing William French Smith's WACO and Ruby Ridge projects, but they'll look the other way on wire-tapping and torture. I got into a huge argument with so-called "anarcho"-capitalists over this a few years ago. They didn't give a shit about Jose Padilla's complete loss of his Fourth Amendment rights. But they were still fuming about Vince Foster!

[Orrex]

24. Well, sure--because Hilary murdered him

:tinfoilhat:

There's no reasoning with the kind of thinker who'll go to great lengths to create dots and then connect them, all while the whole panorama of Dubya's crimes is already laid out in full color. Madness!

[Captain Hilts]

18. At least John Mitchell is buried right by Judge John Sirica! nt

[warrens]

20. That like asking if you prefer electrocution to strangulation...nt

[TreasonousBastard]

27. Mitchell and Meese were croosk, but...

lined their own pockets and never went as far as Gonzo in sticking it to us.

Ashcroft was wierd, but note that he has been aghast at some of Gonzo's tricks.

Seems there might have been some others in the running in the distant past, like during the labor riots and pre- Teddy trust days, but I'd have to do some digging.

[MADem]

30. See my post above about Mitchell

He wiped his ass on our Constitution, just like 'Berto is doing. And he's the only AG to actually do prison time...so far.

[TreasonousBastard]

31. I hear ya, but...

I still think Gonzo is reaching much further into the abyss of destroying the Constitution. Mitchell was corrupt, but Gonzo seems on a mission, and not nearly as crude and obvious as Mitchell in going there.

Besides, remember just how much amusement we got from Martha? Gonzo got no comic relief like that.

[MADem]

32. I don't disagree

But we'll just have to wait for the trial before his name goes in the Hall of Fame. Only the GOP convicts people in the Court of Public Opinion!!!

And good ole Martha, immortalized by psychiatrists world wide:

Dubbed "The Mouth of the South," she began contacting reporters when her husband's role in the Watergate scandal became known. At one time, Martha insisted she was held against her will in a California hotel room and sedated to keep her from making her controversial phone calls to the news media. However, because of this, she was discredited and even abandoned by her family. Nixon aides even leaked to the press that she had a "drinking problem." The "Martha Mitchell effect," when a psychiatrist mistakenly diagnoses someone's belief as a delusion, is named after her.

http://www.answers.com/topic/martha-beall-mitchell

[Hippo_Tron]

34. How about Palmer?

Illegal raids...