Matt Ortega

Alberto Gonzales, the disgraced former attorney general, penned an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times about the presidential election and the Latino vote.

Gonzales addresses critical issues to the Latino community — particularly, immigration and equality — but given his shameful track record as the President’s lackey and partisan hack, he is an ill-chosen messenger.

Finally, although we know that America strives to be a fair country, the harsh reality is we are not one nation with liberty and justice for all. And yet equal opportunity — to a job, to capital and to credit — is a cornerstone of American success. The promise of equal opportunity is what drew our parents and grandparents and what still draws immigrants to the U.S., and it is what firmly knits them into the country once they are citizens.

It would be an understatement to scoff at this paragraph as simply an empty platitude and pathetic attempt by Gonzales to reinvent himself as a champion of Latino issues.

Under the stewardship of Gonzales, the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department deteriorated to abysmal levels. The office designed to protect the rights of minorities was turned into an instrument of disenfranchisement and partisan politics.

Bradley Schlozman, the former head of the Civil Rights Division, consistently overruled experienced lawyers, including the Georgia voter ID law, the Texas redistricting gambit spearheaded by former Congressman Tom DeLay (R-Sugar Land, Tex.), and attempts to cut down the voter rolls in Missouri, a critical swing state. Schlozman is currently under investigation for perjury by a federal grand jury.

The complicity and blatant dishonesty of the former attorney general in the partisan firings of eight Unites States attorneys is just the tip of the iceberg and the least shameful of the Gonzales scandals.

Gonzales, then-White House Counsel, was involved in the illegal and unconstitutional surveillance of millions of Americans without warrants and the use of national security letters to conduct searches. By the time the unlawful program surfaced in the press, Gonzales was leading the Department of Justice, and the attorney general’s testimony was contradicted by several credible witnesses, including FBI Director Robert Mueller and the former Acting Attorney General James B. Comey.

In early 2007, Gonzales argued before the Senate Judiciary Committee that habeas corpus was not granted in the United States Constitution.

Gonzales’ most shameful of acts was his involvement in the administration’s usurpation of the Geneva Conventions and the introduction of American-led torture against detainees after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. With that 2002 memo, Gonzales lowered the collective response of the American people to once unimaginable levels of inhumanity.

The former attorney general has brought great shame to himself and the Latino community. By his own admission, Gonzales writes he “cannot speak for all Latinos.”

For once, he is correct.

In the New York Times on Sunday, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is unable to find a job after he was forced to resign from his post last year.

He has, through friends, put out inquiries, they said, and has not found any takers. What makes Mr. Gonzales’s case extraordinary is that former attorneys general, the government’s chief lawyer, are typically highly sought.

The Times report states that Gonzales has not held a full-time job since he left the Bush administration in utter disgrace over the politicized firings of U.S. attorneys, warrantless domestic surveillance, and institutionalized torture. Instead, Gonzales is living off paid speeches and the lecture circuit — speaking engagements that often draw protests.

Read the full story here.

(Hat tip: John Amato, Crooks & Liars)

Another stalwart of the Republican Party is bowing out of political life in 2008. Senator Pete Domenici (R-New Mexico) decided today that he will retire from the U.S. Senate. Domenici is embroiled in the Department of Justice politicization scandal, particularly the case of fired U.S. Attorney for New Mexico, David Iglesias.

Domenici’s retirement sparked discussion on the blogs about who will seek to replace him, and how things might shake out.

Republican prospects of retaining possession on this seek look bleak. Eric Kleefield noted that the departing senator’s top successor, Congresswoman Heather Wilson (R-Albuquerque, N.M.) is marred in the same scandal that likely played into his decision not to seek re-election. The next step down is Congressman Steve Pearce (R-Hobbs, N.M.), described by Kleefield as “probably too much of a right-winger to succeed in the political environment this cycle.” After him, the Republicans got bupkis. Although, I would love to see Wilson battle fired U.S. Attorney Iglesias in the GOP primary. However, should Iglesias win, he could prove to be tougher than the two point margin he lost by for attorney general several years ago.

Displaced New Mexican native Adam Conner is encouraging the netroots to draft Congressman Tom Udall (D-Santa Fe, N.M.) for the open Senate seat. Conner also laid out the possibility of a complete Democratic takeover of the state at the federal level in 2008.

TPMmuckraker, the site that rang the alarm long before the traditional press caught on, said goodbye to Domenici.

Domenici joins Senators Wayne Allard (R-Colorado) and John Warner (R-Virginia) on the sidelines — both potential Democratic pick-ups. It looks like Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho) has reversed his decision to retire and willing to stay and fight, despite the sex-sting arrest and ensuing scandal.

After months of unfair treatment that has created a harmful distraction at the Justice Dept. … It’s sad. (pause) That we live in a time when a talented and honorable person like Alberto Gonzales is impeding from doing important because his good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons.

–President George W. Bush
(Crooks & Liars, 08/27/07)

President Bush’s statement is beyond laughable. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was opposite the truth on the U.S. attorneys at every turn. He contradicted himself under oath on numerous occasions. Gonzales damaged himself so bad politically that even Republicans were questioning the integrity of his statements and testimony.

These are the “accomplishments” that Bush felt he had to point out in order to defend Gonzales’ good name?

• Cracking down on online child sex predators: I believe Mark Foley is still on the streets and what happened to those slew of Department of Homeland Security officials that were nabbed on related charges?
• Enforcing civil rights protections? The Civil Rights Division was one of the most politicized offices in the entire Justice Department.
• Cracking down on corruption? Evidence suggests that the Justice Department, with Gonzales at the helm, was actually impeding corruption cases, such as with the firing of U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California, Carol Lam, who successfully prosecuted former Congressman Randall “Duke” Cunningham (R-San Diego, Calif.).

Dragging names through the mud for political reasons? This administration has made that an art form.