NationStates Jolt Archive

One of the issues discussed during the campaign was the Patriot Act. The big questions that many have issues with is that it removes so much of the transparency originally built into the justice system. Things like the authority to search and detain without revealing reasons or warrants, to hold suspects without access to council have all mademany people uneasy.

So, one wonders what the new Attorney General might think about transparency.

Think no more! (http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000720161)


One interesting item the report found from Gonzales' time in Texas: "Gonzales was instrumental in getting Bush excused from jury duty in 1996 -- a move that allowed the governor to avoid having to disclose that he had been arrested for drunken driving in Maine in 1976, the Houston Chronicle reported. Bush was able to keep it a secret until the final days of his 2000 presidential campaign."

...

A new report from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press paints a picture of White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales -- who has been nominated to replace U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft -- as someone who has worked tirelessly to keep information from the press and public if he believes it could hurt the president, and does not appear ready to change [...]
Gonzales has "played a key role in keeping presidential records out of the public eye and asked for several extensions to deadlines for turning over papers of past presidents," the report says. "Earlier this year, Gonzales also pressured the nation's archivist, John Carlin, to resign, according to Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.). Carlin's departure -- he resigned without giving a reason -- sparked speculation that he was forced out in order to protect the records of the first President Bush."

The report also cited Bush's efforts to protect his advisors from being forced to testify, saying, "Gonzales picked one battle in particular to doggedly fight: that the president and those working closely with him must be able to receive counsel from advisers without public inquiry. Gonzales argued throughout the summer of 2002 that Vice President Cheney and the records of his energy policy task force should not be subject to open-government laws."



Nope - he doesn't think citizens need to know things either.....

Ick. I suggest that this nomination may in fact have come from a drunken bet in which someone was challanged to find someone WORSE for the US legal system than John "I need to know what everyone did in Vegas" Ashcroft.

The ABA - not exactly the most pro-Bush organization - disagrees that he is that bad. here (http://www.abanet.org/journal/ereport/nov12agen.htm)

All I know is that there is a rapidly growing divide between what we know about the government and what the government knows about us. I'm pretty sure the founding fathers meant for the government to public and the citizens to be private. I just gotta hope that Big Brother doesn't visit Nationstates General.

All I know is that there is a rapidly growing divide between what we know about the government and what the government knows about us. I'm pretty sure the founding fathers meant for the government to public and the citizens to be private. I just gotta hope that Big Brother doesn't visit Nationstates General.
Yes, it's Bush - gradually turning America into a George Orwell novel.

Did you know that in the very early days of the US Republic, you could just walk into the President's office and meet with him? The things I learn from Bill Bryson!

Abraham Lincoln makes George W. Bush look like an anarchist.

Yes, it's Bush - gradually turning America into a George Orwell novel.

Did you know that in the very early days of the US Republic, you could just walk into the President's office and meet with him? The things I learn from Bill Bryson!

So are you suggesting that we allow unlimited public access to the Oval Office now???

Abraham Lincoln makes George W. Bush look like an anarchist.

Abe who suspended habes corpus?

Sounds like politics as usual to me. As an Arkansan I know how much scandal was covered up to get Clinton elected. And its still a sore subject around here. My office is just a few blocks from the new library opening tomorrow and the people with signs reading "Clinton raped Juanita" are everywhere. None of them show up on the news, though, do they? Politics as usual.

So are you suggesting that we allow unlimited public access to the Oval Office now???
Are you suggesting that we have none? Or that you are incapable of understanding someone using a watermark to make a point without neccisarily suggesting that we 'reset?'

It's this kind of complex language understanding that I think would be neccisary in order to assess someones 'paradigm,' so I'm a little suprised that you would completely miss this persons point to belittle the argument. I mean, you wouldn't try to be reductive to avoid the actual meat of the discussion, would you?

Sounds like politics as usual to me. As an Arkansan I know how much scandal was covered up to get Clinton elected. And its still a sore subject around here. My office is just a few blocks from the new library opening tomorrow and the people with signs reading "Clinton raped Juanita" are everywhere. None of them show up on the news, though, do they? Politics as usual.
"Ulysess S. Grant did these bad things, so now we can get away with all kinds of crazy crap!!!"

Really, that's the excuse you're gonna ride? "Clinton did it?" What happened to the 'restoring accountability?' Hmm? The whole 'values' thing that was supposed to be the hot little deal this election? Hmm? Or are 'values' just code for 'dudes kissing grosses me out?" No striving to be better? Just striving to be just as bad? Are we going to see this excuse on everything Bush does? That someone did something similar or worse once and so regardless of whether they got away with it or not, it's now okay? Is it as long a Bush doesn't bust a 'wrong' cherry it's all good? Wow, I'm glad 'values' have been restored.

Yes, it's Bush - gradually turning America into a George Orwell novel.

Did you know that in the very early days of the US Republic, you could just walk into the President's office and meet with him? The things I learn from Bill Bryson!
It was a rather smaller country, and the number or people willing or able to travel to washington would have been smaller still.

Andrew Jackson had a big block of cheese in his White House lobby. It was there for any and all who were hungry.

So are you suggesting that we allow unlimited public access to the Oval Office now???
No, of course not. It was just an interesting little fact.

Abe who suspended habes corpus?

Yes. That's what I meant, that Lincoln was so dictatorial that Bush pales in comparison.

"Ulysess S. Grant did these bad things, so now we can get away with all kinds of crazy crap!!!"

Really, that's the excuse you're gonna ride? "Clinton did it?" What happened to the 'restoring accountability?' Hmm? The whole 'values' thing that was supposed to be the hot little deal this election? Hmm? Or are 'values' just code for 'dudes kissing grosses me out?" No striving to be better? Just striving to be just as bad? Are we going to see this excuse on everything Bush does? That someone did something similar or worse once and so regardless of whether they got away with it or not, it's now okay? Is it as long a Bush doesn't bust a 'wrong' cherry it's all good? Wow, I'm glad 'values' have been restored.

Please don't translate my words. It is the nature of the game of politics to put the best fact on their candidates. Bush tried to cover a DWI? That would resonate with a lot of people and overshadow his qualifications to serve as president. A similar charge against Bush Sr days before the election probably won it for Clinton. Do you think Clinton would have been elected if the rape accusation and the castration incident had come to light before the election? NO!! But, I think overall he did a pretty fair job as president. Look what the Swifties did to Kerry. People can blame the Christian right all day long, but the fact is a lot of voters are from the Viet Nam era. They remembered Kerry, what he said, and the outcome of his testimony and it has created a poor image of him for decades. If not for the Swift Vets, Kerry probably would have been elected and he might have been a good president. Campaigns try to bury the ugly past and spotlight the higher points. That's politics in the US and everywhere else.