Gonzales blames bloggers for opposing terrorist surveillance

January 18, 2007

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is spending the day being grilled by the Senate Judiciary Committee on a whole host of fascinating subjects, but this exchange deserves special attention. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), to his enormous credit, reminded Gonzales of the political debate over warrantless searches over the last year.

Feingold: Do you know of any one in the country who opposed eavesdropping on terrorists?”

Gonzales: Sure, if you look at blogs today, there is a lot of concern about all types of eavesdropping, who don’t want us eavesdropping at all.

Feingold: Do you know anyone in government who ever took that position?

Gonzales: No, but that is not what I said.

Feingold: It is a disgrace and disservice to your office and the President to have accused people on this Committee of opposing eavesdropping on terrorists.

Gonzales: I didn’t have you in mind or anyone on the Committee when I referred to people who oppose eavesdropping on terrorists. Perish the thought.

Feingold: Oh, well it’s nice that you didn’t have us “in your mind” when making those accusations, but given that you and the President were running around the country accusing people of opposing eavesdropping on terrorists in the middle of an election, the fact that you didn’t have Congressional Democrats in “mind” isn’t significant. Your intent was to make people think that anyone who opposed the “TSP” did not want to eavesdrop on terrorists, even though that was false. No Democrats oppose eavesdropping on terrorists.

Gonzales: I wasn’t referring to Democrats.

Now, this is dumb for any number of reasons. For one thing, the White House absolutely referred to congressional Democrats when smearing critics of the president’s warrantless-search program.

For another, was there any blogger in the country who came out in opposition to terrorist surveillance?

Tim F. explained this nicely.

So, who was abu Gonzales talking about? Remember that opposing the program simply because warrantless eavesdropping on American citizens violates FISA no longer counts. You need to find somebody who argued that we shouldn’t eavesdrop on terrorists, period. And gosh, this has to be one influential blogger to spark such a hysterical reaction from the width and breadth of the Republican party.

Or, we could be honest with ourselves. The endless, slanderous supporting-the-terrorists rhetoric was meant to have a shelf life of about two months. The point was to fan hate and fear among the base long enough to give the Party its usual jingoistic bump and then hope everybody forgets about it. I don’t think I’m breaking any new ground here, that’s always the plan.

Absolutely right. The moment the warrantless-search program was exposed, and Democrats stood up for the rule of law, the White House and its allies immediately tried to frame this debate as those who want to keep an eye on terrorists vs. those who don’t. Of course, the actual debate was always legal surveillance vs. illegal surveillance, but the Bush gang knowingly and cynically deceived as many Americans as they possibly could for as long as they could.

Gonzales’ spin — it was the bloggers he was unfairly attacking, not Senate Dems — is absurd. If he had the courage of his convictions, he’d either defend what he said or he’d apologize. That’s what people of character do. Shifting the blame and dodging responsibility, well, that’s what the president and his allies do.

If he had courage, period. He is a coward in every sense possible. And a disgrace to humankind.

  • It’s so nice to see that creep being grilled by Feingold. What I wouldn’t give to have a complete tape of his facial expressions during the grilling.

    And thank you Russ Feingold. Thank you for having the kind of spine that ALL the Dems should have grown by now.

    Give ’em hell.

  • Given a little more time I’m sure Gonzales would have stooped to nutpicking and trotted out the anti-eavesdropping rantings of some obscure blog comment. We need more like Feingold. Glad to see that Webb will be joining the fray.

    As for Gonzales, the sooner I see that little shit behind bars the happier I’ll be.

  • Alberto Gonzales is a disgrace to the very high office he holds. What kind of Attorney General is it who attacks the courts as he did yesterday, saying that the three branches of government are no co-equal and the courts are inferior to the executive branch? Maybe next time the Senate ratifies such a nomination, they should require a nominee to pass an eighth grade US Constitution test first. What these people in the White House are trying to do is treasonous, and I hope Congress has the will and the power to stop them.

  • I gotta hand it to Abu. How do these guys say such things with straight faces?

    This is the President who doesn’t pay attention to polls, who knows what’s right in his gut, but we’re simultaneously supposed to think he’s spending campaign time combatting ideas expressed in blog posts???? I start laughing just typing the idea.

    (BTW, have you noticed the way the other Bush henchmen are picking up the rhetorical slack now that Rummy has left? The other day Condi said “Goodness gracious,” and now Gonzo says “Perish the thought.” Do you suppose they have “Talk like the 1950s” parties at work just to stay in practice? Considering the way they’re lying at the same time, I think it’s Eddie Haskell syndrome.)

  • Damned Bloggers!

    It’s your fault! Proud of yourself?

    I hope so.

    I am not a scholar but I did enough fact research before we invaded Iraq to know that a very large part of the reasons being put forth were bogus, if not outright lies. I carefully watched the electronic and print media and saw very little of what I already knew being reported on – not even on page 17. The NY Times was right behind their political groupie, Judy Miller, leading the charge to war. Someone had to be reporting the truth and the back-story. It was the damned Bloggers. Thanks guys.

    In 1967 there was a march on the UN to protest the Viet Nam War. It was cold and rainy but people showed any way. They started marching out of Central Park, 12 wide, at noon and when it got dark around six they were still leaving Central Park. 12 wide. Nobody got within two blocks of UN Plaza after two PM. Probably 600,000 people. Total News coverage: Walter Cronkite said, “There was an anti-war protest in New York today.” – no film. NY Times reported it on page three.

    From the first campus teach-ins in ’64 it took four full years to get a serious robust anti-war movement going. The Bloggers have cut that time by more than half. Yay, Bloggers!

  • I think we’re all missing the broader point here: The Attorney General said “Perish the thought”? What is this, some kind of bad period piece?

  • Stupid timeouts! I _knew_ the answer was orange. Damn you biggerbox, I’ll get you yet… 🙂

  • Gonzales has directed attention properly; we need to start censoring the traitors and treasonous language that is found on the internet. Look at the constraints that have been applied to TV, newspapers, and other types of communication. We just can’t let people talk or write about anything without proper monitoring. Our safety (and income and perks) can only be guaranteed by controlling the cursed Liberals who always seem to find some way of getting their ideas out to the public. Maybe we can get Rupert to buy the internet rather than waiting for the corporations to act! Perhaps Ann is right and we should simply put the disloyal into concentration camps! After all, if it is good enough for fun places like North Korea, Burma, and China, it should be good enough for real Americans!

  • Here’s a quote from Bush, building the exact strawman that Gonzales says they never used…

    …”You know, if that’s what [Democrats] believe, if people in the party believe that, then they ought to stand up and say it. They ought to stand up and say the tools we’re using to protect the American people shouldn’t be used. They ought to take their message to the people and say, vote for me, I promise we’re not going to have a terrorist surveillance program. That’s what they ought to be doing. That’s part of what is an open and honest debate.”

    http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0322-29.htm

  • gracious@#4 – this is exactly the point i was trying to make yesterday under the original story about dropping the FISA challenge. the guy is an absolute worm – and that’s being too kind.

  • Tenebras #8. If you get an “oops” when you try to post, then hit the back button, then the forward button and then Refresh and click Retry and you’ll probably find your message has been posted.

    Even better would be at the end of typing your contents, go Alt-A and then Alt-C and you’ll save a copy. Macs use apple key.

  • I believe Alberto was referring to the blog “Staw Man Blog” as the chief perp in question.

    tenebras #7 – The “Perish the thought” expression at first seems like a version of Rumfeld-speak, a sort of “my goodness graciousness” from the AG. But has anyone ever heard that expression used when it wasn’t absolutely dripping with sarcasm? I think it was Alberto’s polite way of saying “F*ck off!”

  • Jay (#9) echoes my concern about this, in that we’re probably being monitored out here in cyberland more than most people realize.

    Tenebras #8 and Dale #12 — Use the control – ‘Ctr’l – key instead of ‘Alt’.

  • The AG said “Perish the thought”?

    Amazing!

    I think Feingold is taking notes from Stephan Colbert. That was damn good questioning.

    Again, the reason to oppose this program is that it is TOTALLY USELESS! Every tip given to the FBI from the program that has panned out has proven to be on a case the FBI is already working.

    Effing ass-covering morons who let us get attacked on 9/11/01 (I’m talking about you General Michael V. Hayden, Director of the CIA)!

  • When it came time to renew the Patriot Act, more than 75 percent — 75 percent of the House Democrats voted against it. When it came time to vote on whether or not the CIA continue its program to detain and question captured terrorists, almost 80 percent of the House Democrats voted against it. They just have a different point of view. They don’t see it the way I see it, or the way you see it. Otherwise, why wouldn’t they give the professionals the tools necessary to protect you? When it came time to vote on whether the National Security Agency should continue to monitor terrorist communications, almost 90 percent of the House Democrats voted against it. In all these vital measures for fighting the war on terror, the Democrats just follow a simple philosophy: Just say no.

    When it comes to listening to the terrorists, what’s the Democrats’ answer? It’s, just say no. When it comes to detaining terrorists, what is the Democrats’ answer? Just say no. When it comes to questioning terrorists, what’s the Democrats’ answer?

    AUDIENCE: Just say no!

    THE PRESIDENT: When it comes to trying the terrorists, what’s the Democrats’ answer?

    AUDIENCE: Just say no!

    THE PRESIDENT: So when the Democrats ask for your vote, what’s your answer?

    AUDIENCE: Just say no! (Applause.)

  • Most incompetent, two-faced administration in history. It is interesting that the other run of bad administrations was during the robber baron era. Unfettered money generates abyssmal government. (And I really wish I could access spell check….)

  • I AM YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE AND YOUR WORST ENEMY, NOONE ELSE IS WORSE THAN I ,!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

  • Are you serious Homer? You’ve fallen for the crappy arguments of the right if you really believe what you wrote. No one said don’t detain terrorists, or don’t wiretap terrorists or don’t surveil terrorists.

    The Dems said if the CIA detains Homer, he should have the right to confront his charges and prove his innocence in a court of law to make sure they got the right guy. The Dems said don’t tap Homer’s phone without a warrant just for a fishing expedition if their is no compelling evidence to point to Homer doing anything wrong. The Dems are saying don’t torture Homer just because he says he didn’t do anything and the interrogators want to get all Jack Bauer on Homer’s ass. The Dems are saying don’t fly Homer to Egypt so the Egyptians can hide Homer in a rat infested hole, periodically beating the crap out of Homer and zapping Homer’s testicles until they realize Homer doesn’t know anything about further plots to bomb America before they fly him back and say Homer’s the wrong guy.

    And as a matter of fact the Dems ARE saying that terrorists should face trial, since the Bush administration prefers just to lock people up without charge and throw away the key. If all the guys at Guantanamo are guilty, why haven’t they been charged with anything?

    You’ve got this issue all wrong. Way wrong.

  • Homer – I was just over at Glenn Greenwald and at Froomkim. I didn’t realize your post was verbatim text taken from a Bush speech last October. My apologies for comment #21 above.

    Peter

  • I don’t see the problem w/ “Perish the thought” as long as it’s used sarcastically. I use it fairly often as a more upscale cousin of “Onoes.”

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