Alberto Gonzales: Public Enemy No. 1

Who is this person who dominates today's newspaper headlines, as well as the radio and TV air waves?

News of illegal aliens who rape 5-year-olds and are freed on minimal bail to murder, execution-style, college students have taken the back seat to the character assassins in the drive-by vehicle of the dominant mass media.

How many individuals have died as a result of this “Public Enemy’s” orders? Could he have approved the actions of an FBI sniper to shoot a mother in the head as she stood behind the window of the front door of her home with her baby in her arms?

Could he have ordered U.S. Army tanks to demolish a religious compound, with the loss of 80 lives including many women and children, in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s ban on the use of U.S. Armed Forces against U.S. citizens?

To create such a vitriolic reaction from the far left Judiciary Committee of the U.S. Senate, a crime of major proportions must have been committed. Had not this Public Enemy No. 1 been advised by the fuzzy little group of far left piranhas on the Senate Judiciary Committee that resignation from his office would resolve the issue?

He did resign! And that's how he suddenly became Public Enemy No. 1.

Today, he is referred to as the skunk at the picnic. He is accused of obstruction of justice and perjury. He is accused of secret eavesdropping on private American conversations without a court warrant, destroying the credibility and integrity of our nation’s judicial system, having no dignity or character, and being a disgrace to the administration and to his country.

To no one’s surprise, Public Enemy No. 1 has been identified as Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

The cabinet post of attorney general of the United States is traditionally filled by someone of great trust, at least in the mind of the president. The appointee quite often has been a close associate and advisor to the president during previous periods of political activity, such as governor of a state, as was the case with Alberto Gonzales when President Bush was governor of Texas.

Of all the Cabinet members, the attorney general is normally the closest to the president. One of the complaints against Gonzales was that he was too close to the president. You may recall that President John F. Kennedy appointed his own brother, Robert F. Kennedy, to the post of U.S. attorney general.

One might ask, How close can you get?

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales attracted little attention until he ruled that certain methods of eavesdropping on suspected terrorists' incoming communications to U.S. recipients was permissible. There was no proof that surveillance of U.S. citizens was involved.

The panel of U.S. surveillance judges offered no objection to what became a final planned procedure. Attorney General Gonzales' actions were directed to national security and protection of the lives and property of U.S. citizens against foreign-generated terrorist attacks.

Attorney General Gonzales' first real "crime" occurred when seven U.S. district attorneys, who served at the pleasure of the president of the United States, were dismissed. Such actions in the past were considered routine and attracted no attention.

President Bill Clinton dismissed all 72 U.S. district attorneys from the previous administration of President George Herbert Walker Bush. No reasons for dismissal were given and none were required. This was his prerogative.

The case of Gonzales' removal of seven U.S. district attorneys has been expanded into one of the largest congressional investigations since Watergate. The present investigation was designed to follow the "successful" pattern of the Valerie Plame case where presidential adviser Karl Rove and Vice President Dick Cheney were to be the selected targets.

Both Rove and Cheney proved to have no part in the outing of "former CIA operative" Plame. No crime occurred. The latest evidence now shows that the "victims" themselves were the perpetrators of the “crime.”

Since no crime had been committed, a crime would have to be manufactured and that's exactly what occurred in the scapegoating of Vice President Cheney's Chief of Staff Lewis Scooter Libby. An entrapment stage was set to create a charge of perjury against Libby which led to his conviction, with an excessive prison sentence, later suspended by President Bush.

Months of interrogation of Attorney General Gonzales and numerous members of his staff ensued. Some members of the attorney general's staff have taken the Fifth Amendment to avoid a possible charge of perjury. One of the early witnesses, Monica Goodling, a senior advisor to Attorney General Gonzales, on advice from her attorney, John Dowd, in March 2007 invoked the Fifth Amendment.

Dowd advised, “the potential for legal jeopardy for Ms. Goodling from even her most truthful and accurate testimony under these circumstances is very real.” Dowd continued, “One need look no further than the recent circumstances and proceedings involving Lewis Libby.”

As could be expected, the questioning of some of the principals surrounding the attorney general have developed differences in testimony, particularly with FBI Director Robert S. Mueller.

Expectations have been that Attorney General Gonzales' resignation would end the investigation and the issues surrounding the dismissal of the seven district attorneys. Not so, says Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid, D-Nev. "The inquiries should go forward in any event."

This statement alone is indicative of the viciousness of the far-left leadership of the U.S. Senate.

Ralph Hostetter is a prominent businessman and agricultural publisher, and a national and local award-winning columnist. He welcomes e-mail comments to eralphhostetter@yahoo.com.