My little po'dunk Washington State hometown newspaper with the Republican editor published my letter to the editor today. I'm getting to be a regular there; my last published letter in late October blasted Ken Blackwell for turning away Ohio voter registrations submitted on the wrong weight of paper. I'm sure I'm getting a reputation as the town kook, but I don't really care about that.
Text of letter below...
On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will begin confirmation hearings on Alberto Gonzales, Bush's nominee for attorney general.
As White House counsel (i.e. Bush's private lawyer), Gonzales forged the legal path for the United States to commit disgusting, inhuman acts of torture at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib.
Acts of torture are direct violations of the Geneva Conventions and have opend the door for similar treatment of our own soldiers.
Generally, the president is allowed a measure of deference in his cabinet picks. I say this is no time for such deference.
Not challenging Gonzales' nominatino would further solidify the world's perception that the United States is a lawless, barbaric nation. Don't think they haven't seen the pictures too.
The torture committed in our name at Abu Ghraib and Guantanomo Bay is immoral. Its enabler should not be rewarded with the position of the nation's top law enforcement officer.
Please contact your US senators and representatives and let them know how you feel about the embarrassing nomination of Alberto Gonzales.
I called Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell today and shared my views with their offices regarding Gonzales and the certification of Ohio's electors and I plan another call to both of them tomorrow morning.
When I got home tonight, my son excitedly showed me a petition he had written protesting the lack of recess in his elementary school. His class had already signed it and he will distribute it among the rest of his school for signature tomorrow. He plans on submitting it to the district's board when he is done gathering signatures. His mom said the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree. We're a bunch of damn troublemakers.