Please take a few moments and send a note to your Senators regarding Alberto Gonzales. As a former assistant prosecutor, I can attest firsthand to the potential for abuse that such a position can hold. My reasons for taking issue with Mr. Gonzales are detailed below, but you can send your own thoughts via this handy form:
http://action.humanrightsfirst.org/campaign/ETNGonzales?source=etn_gonzales_psa
This has been provided by the nice folks at Human Rights First (an ironic name, considering the actions that Mr. Gonzales has recommended during his tenure as White House Counsel). Please send something - this is so important to our country.
This is what I sent to my Senators. I modified the form letter a bit, to suit my concerns:
"I am deeply concerned about the nomination of White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales. The opinions that he has rendered in the White House Counsel's office have endangered our troops worldwide and besmirched the reputation of the United States as a staunch defender of human rights.
Our actions in Guantanimo, Abu Ghraib, and elsewhere, as well as our overuse of punitive measures with "material witnesses" threaten the fabric of our Constitution, and all are a direct result of Mr. Gonzeles' misguided manipulation of the laws to which all decent Americans have subscribed since our nation's inception. Disregarding precedents and well-established moral norms has become a hallmark of the current Administration, and I, for one, am appalled by the direction in which our nation is moving. The ramifications of this are startling over the course of the next few years, and I believe that Mr. Gonzales should be held accountable for his role in the perversion of due process and the rise of torture as an acceptable means of operation by our troops and law enforcement officials.
During the confirmation process, I urge you to seek clarification from Mr. Gonzales on the following points:
- Does he believe that the United States is bound to observe the Geneva Conventions in its treatment of individuals detained in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere? Does he now reject the view that these obligations are "obsolete" or "quaint?" Has he now thought through the long term ramifications of the decisions on this issue and, if so, what does he think of his recommendations in the cool light of day? What changes in his initial recommendations has he made - and did these changes only occur after the mess at Abu Ghraib was uncovered by the media?
- Does he believe that the International Committee of the Red Cross should have access to all detainees held in U.S. custody, as required by the Geneva Conventions? Does he favor discontinuing the practice of holding people in secret detention?
- Would he uphold the U.S. Government's legal obligations under the Constitution and the UN Convention Against Torture prohibiting all forms of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment? Would he vigorously prosecute any U.S. official who has violated these laws?
- Would he favor the establishment of a bi-partisan independent Commission, appointed by Congress, to investigate the abuses at Abu Ghraib and in other detention facilities around the world?
- Does he now reject the view that the President's commander-in-chief authority allows the Executive branch to order torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment?
I urge you to include a close scrutiny of his answers to these critical questions in your decision on his confirmation. Mr. Gonzales must step forward and act as a protector of the Constitution, and not merely as a protector of the President's power and reputation, in order to perform the duties of the Attorney General with any level of competency. We should require that our Attorney General respects the rights of every American, and upholds all portions of the Constitution, and all laws to which our nation is a signatory -- not merely those portions of the laws which are politically expedient at the time. As a former prosecuting attorney, I am well aware of the potential for abuse of power in that position. The nation has already suffered under four years of the erosion of personal rights under John Ashcroft, and we cannot afford to simply "rubber stamp" another person in that same mold without fully examining all of his credentials and the ramifications of all of his decisions. Our integrity as a nation is at stake in this appointment, and I urge you to require a higher level of thought and explanation from Mr. Gonzales than the current Administration has bothered to do."
Thanks for looking. Please take a few minutes to send something to your Senators -- our nation deserves an attorney general who actually respects the law, and not someone who finds a way to wriggle around those laws that seem inconvenient in the moment no matter the long-term consequences or moral deficiencies involved.