WASHINGTON, June 11, 2007
Gonzales No Confidence Vote Dies In Senate
Republicans Block Symbolic Measure Against Embattled Attorney General
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Play CBS Video Video Senate Set For Gonzales Vote The Senate plans to hold a no-confidence vote on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. As Susan Roberts reports, Gonzales has come under fire for his handling of the firings of eight federal prosecutors.
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(CBS/AP)
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Who's Who Firings Firestorm Justice Department at center of controversy over firing of eight U.S. attorneys.
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Interactive 110th Congress The balance of power shifts and new leadership takes control as the latest session convenes.
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Interactive Bush Presidency The president's agenda, plus facts, figures, major events and key personalities.
The 53-38 vote fell seven short of the 60 votes required under U.S. Senate rules to move the nonbinding resolution to a formal debate. In bringing it up, Democrats dared Republicans to vote their true feelings about the attorney general, who had alienated even the White House's strongest defenders by bungling the firings of eight federal prosecutors and claiming dozens of times that he did not recall details of their departures.
Republicans did not defend him, but most voted on constitutional grounds against moving the resolution to formal consideration and accused Democrats of trying to prod Gonzales from office. That development seemed unlikely in the short term. Gonzales dismissed the rhetorical ruckus on Capitol Hill, and President George W. Bush continued to stand by his longtime friend and legal adviser.
"They can have their votes of no confidence, but it's not going to make the determination about who serves in my government," Bush said in Sofia, Bulgaria, the last stop on a weeklong visit to Europe.
"This process has been drug out a long time," Bush added. "It's political."
The attorney general said he was paying no attention to the rhetoric in Congress.
"I am not focusing on what the Senate is doing," Gonzales said at a nuclear terrorism conference in Miami. "I am going to be focusing on what the American people expect of the attorney general of the United States and this great Department of Justice."
Democrats and Republicans have widely criticized Gonzales for botching the firings of the prosecutors, claiming not to know who ordered the dismissals and causing the Justice Department to fall into disarray as a result. Lawmakers of both parties also have long complained that Gonzales allowed Justice to violate civil liberties on a host of other issues — such as by carrying out Bush's warrantless wiretapping program.
It's all about political symbolism, since only the president can decide if Gonzales stays or goes, CBS News correspondent Bob Fuss reports. A lot of Republicans are unhappy with Gonzales, but say this "no-confidence" vote was a stunt.
One veteran Republican said Gonzales had spent his political capital in the Senate.
"There is no confidence in the attorney general on this side of the aisle," said Sen. Arlen Specter, the senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Specter voted to move the resolution forward, but he said many of his GOP colleagues would not because they feared political retribution.
Democrats said it was only fair to put senators on record for or against Gonzales, particularly since five Republican senators have demanded the attorney general's resignation and many more have said in public comments that they had lost confidence in him.
"If senators cast their vote with their conscience, they would speak with near unanimity that there is no confidence in the attorney general," said the resolution's author, Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer. "Their united voice would undoubtedly dislodge the attorney general from the post that he should no longer hold."
Sen. Trent Lott, the Senate's second-ranking Republican, said it is inappropriate for the Senate to hold forth on a member of the president's cabinet, and that doing so would boomerang.
"This is a nonbinding, irrelevant resolution proving what? Nothing," Lott said. "Maybe we should be considering a vote of no confidence on the Senate or on the Congress for malfunction and an inability to produce anything."
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
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See all 316 Comments"The Assault On Reason"
It might be good idea to check it out at the book store.
Yeah, Bush had his staff read the intelligence after he already decided that Afghanistan was not fun enough for him and made a decision to invade Iraq.
Remember a lot of us real war veterans were marching before the war started in 2003 saying how rediculous this whole thing was. Scott Ritter the marine weapons inspector with Hans Blix were on every channel screaming that there were no WMDs. But Bush pressed ahead and invaded - making him and his administration and bunch of war criminals (Geneva Conventions 1947, 1949).
They still did not have enough and have authorized torture.
Make sure you get this because those who agree with this war and think we got there under nobel purposes: Do not torture people to save me or my life. My life and those I care about mean a lot more to me then to ever torture anyone in their good names.
Can anyone else believe what has happened to our country. It is so sad.
And then how can you not attest to the Presidential Daily Brief where Bush and Admin were warned about upcoming attacks from airplanes and did nothing. Makes one think about how and why Bush got his real power after this, doesn't it.
And Gonzales is just another example of the incompetence of this administration. "I don't recall that meeting;" "I don't recall signing that." That's okay from a perp but what about from an attorney general? What about from a President. There all way over their head.
Is anyoe else here completely sick and tired of these "no acountability" asssholes for the last 6 years?
How utterly absurd are these third graders????
How many redundant brainless zombies have the right wing talk show hosts created? You would think they were right out of a north korean brainwashing program.
Posted by ainttaken at 05:47 PM : Jun 12, 2007
i'm sick of it
Posted by mudrose at 04:55 PM : Jun 12, 2007
Faulty intelligence ? No. Faulty and outright fraudulent use of good intelligence ? Yes.
9/11 HAPPENED BECAUSE CLINTON WAS TOO BUSY USING HIS HEAD FOR SOMETHING ELSE ?
A: Simpleton response. Bill was long gone when it happened.
Kennedy was a great Pres.
Cheney ? 18% ? Where, Fox ? In my opinion,Cheney doesnt even register a rating anymore, but I'm sure he'll at least garner 10%. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while.
Posted by mudrose at 04:55 PM : Jun 12, 2007
Faulty intelligence ? No. Faulty and outright fraudulent use of good intelligence ? Yes.
9/11 HAPPENED BECAUSE CLINTON WAS TOO BUSY USING HIS HEAD FOR SOMETHING ELSE ?
A: Simpleton response. Bill was long gone when it happened.
Kennedy was a great Pres.
Cheney ? 18% ? Where, Fox ? In my opinion,Cheney doesnt even register a rating anymore, but I'm sure he'll at least garner 10%. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while.
Posted by tejasdemo
9/11 HAPPENED BECAUSE CLINTON WAS TOO BUSY USING HIS HEAD FOR SOMETHING ELSE. I WILL BLAME THAT BASTARDO TIL THE DAY HE DIES. AND SINCE YOU ALL B/ITCH ABOUT FAULTY INTELLIGENCE, WELL WE CERTAINLY HAD FAULTY INTELLIGENCE BEFORE GB. AND AS FAR AS THE KENNEDY ASSASINATION, THAT WAS THE CLINTOID'S HERO. GOOD ROLE MODEL WOULDN'T YA SAY. AND CHENEY'S RATING IS AT 18%. CHECK REID'S TOMORROW.
I listen to them and it is hate speech. I turn the dial and there is no dialogue counter-acting their hate speech.
I wasn't indicating these individuals should be shut down like Imus. I advocate free speech. I am concerned that America is in a bath of anti-liberal sentiment that is detrimental to the unity of our country. Yourself as a prime example of finding a scapegoat to blame for all the troubles of this country and globe, instead of working together to solve them, cupcake.
And you guys have the MSM (both TV and print), 90% of the "news" magazines, CNN, MSNBC, BBC, AP.......and you're STILL NOT HAPPY!
Libs will NEVER be satisfied!!!!
And for the record, cupcake, they are not GIVEN airtime. They are run on a profitable basis......that is, they have a popular show and companies pay to advertise. See, it's called America.
No one is interested in listening to whining libs degrading the country and it's elected officials (see Airhead America) so they don't have these shows. See how it works?
Rush, O'Reilly, Hannity, Savage, these individuals are given national airtime to campaign against liberalism and keep the masses fired up against any kind of progressive thinking. Is there a national liberal Talk Radio? (Some would say NPR, but the NPR schedule is available only in selective places, AL plays classical music most of the time.) I%u2019ve heard liberal-bashing on Christian radio by nationally known religious figures. Anything BUT conservatism is made to seem "bad" by biased sources.
I don't believe Bush is the crux in this dangerous point American politics is currently in, and I do not believe his leaving office will stop the trend of the GOP working to central power within their party. Their party is strong, with very powerful backers that can play outside the rules with little backlash. The GOP is throwing us deliberately out of balance with their power grabbing agenda while their campaign of using liberals as "the enemy" successfully draws attention away from their anti-American actions. American Republicans will support the GOP because they are given something else to hate more.
PS: Thanks clemenhagen1
Posted by AaaBee at 02:49 PM : Jun 12, 2007
I agree completely.
Posted by b48151 at 03:01 PM : Jun 12, 2007
Cheney is at 15%. Lol. I win I win. See ya after you and mudrose get done calling into the Rush show to validate yourselves as "experts".
Posted by mudrose
Unfortunately, many of these people will never understand any of this. Sometimes, people believe what they want to believe and ignore the truth.
Posted by rhs648 at 03:26 PM : Jun 12, 2007
Yea, like right wing nazi republicans who think Clinton is to blame for everything. 9/11 happened while the Republicans were in complete charge of the government. Iraq and all the death associated with it is a direct result of the republicans. That is the truth. Why dont you guys figure out how to blame Clinton for the Kennedy assasination.
Posted by Mudrose & RU 486
Attaboys! Fall back on the blame 'er on Clinton line. Compare our economy & deficits, our standing in the world, and the situation in Iraq and Israel under Clinton to the current regime. Clinton had Saddam Hussein completely weakened and isolated. The fact they found zero weapons of mass destruction merely confirms the reality: Hussein possessed no power nor allies and posed no threat to the region. Now thanks to Sir Lies-Alot and the rest of the Administration That Couldn't Shoot Straight, Iraq stands in utter chaos and has destabilized the entire region. Bravo neocons! Iran has a stronger hand than ever; the Saudis continue to fund the Sunni insurgency, the Kurds and Turks lurk on the fringe of outright warfare, and radical terrorist groups from al Qaeda in Iraq to Hamas have gained more recruitment power than ever. And as far as 9-11 goes, read Richard Clarke's book "Against All Enemies," see how he portrays the clueless Condi and the rest of the Bush administration, and then tell me the Clinton's people would have ignored PDB's that stated "Osama bin Laden Determined to Strike Targets in the United States." Tell me that Clinton would have stood there dumbfounded while plane after hijacked plane made U-turns in the skies without being confronted by NORAD.
WASHINGTON -- President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution.
Among the laws Bush said he can ignore are military rules and regulations, affirmative-action provisions, requirements that Congress be told about immigration services problems, ''whistle-blower" protections for nuclear regulatory officials, and safeguards against political interference in federally funded research.
Legal scholars say the scope and aggression of Bush's assertions that he can bypass laws represent a concerted effort to expand his power at the expense of Congress, upsetting the balance between the branches of government. The Constitution is clear in assigning to Congress the power to write the laws and to the president a duty ''to take care that the laws be faithfully executed." Bush, however, has repeatedly declared that he does not need to ''execute" a law he believes is unconstitutional.
Former administration officials contend that just because Bush reserves the right to disobey a law does not mean he is not enforcing it: In many cases, he is simply asserting his belief that a certain requirement encroaches on presidential power.
By Charlie Savage, Boston Globe Staff
Posted by mudrose
Unfortunately, many of these people will never understand any of this. Sometimes, people believe what they want to believe and ignore the truth.
Posted by mudrose at 12:48 PM : Jun 12, 2007
I know!!!!! Did you catch that?!?!?!? Is Reid an absolute idiot or what? Come 2008, HIS worthless a*s is going to be "undocumented".
The left wing libs are thru with him. The right NEVER had any use for him. Besides himself and his mother, I'm not sure who will vote for him.
Posted by infidel_us
I called his office earlier today on this. And I told his staff member that his rating just dropped another 5% which means if it goes any lower, maybe he too will disappear.
PS: Thanks clemenhagen1
Posted by AaaBee
A match at last. The lopsided George Soros type of the MoveOn.Org. who sees the right as a dangerous machine while all the time never alluding to the lefties and their backer George Soros who sees the United States as the only obstacle to a new world order and the left wing numgnut. A match made in . . .well we know you people don't believe in the afterlife.
Adios mudrose. For a second there, it was fun.
Posted by tejasdemo
Hey, pot, I'm kettle. I'm what?
I truly think Republicans are people who are not prepared to live in a world that can change so quickly, and where the truth is harder to hide.
It%u2019s time to open the door for tolerance, compassion, understanding, and debate.
Real debate!
No B.S. angry Republican rhetoric whose goals are not to educate but to instill fear, or belittle.
I believe the last few elections were the last gasp for Republicans, a party that has lost all meaning and whose construct has been %u201Cgiven to god%u201D or %u201Csold to the corporations%u201D.
Posted by getcentered
Oh, hahahah, Kumbia to you too.
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