Gee - Ya think?
posted by
Clyde
6:15 AM
Gonzales rapped as president's 'yes man'
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says his long friendship with President Bush makes it easier to say "no" to him on sticky legal issues.
Gonzales' critics say the attorney is far more likely to say "yes," and they say that leaves 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. Gonzales has pushed counterterrorism programs that courts found unconstitutional and filled the ranks of federal prosecutors with Republican loyalists. In doing so, he has put Bush's stamp on an a Cabinet department 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."
(Link)
Permalink
::
0 comments
::
|
