Why is Alberto Gonzales still the Attorney General?Two weeks ago, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Gonzales said, "there is no express grant of habeas in the Constitution." His reasoning, or rationalization, behind this extraordinary statement is that the Constitution merely prohibits suspension of the right, except under special circumstances, but the Constitution doesn't explicitly state that the right exists.
Well!
The Constitution merely states that "Congress shall make no law" prohibiting the free exercise of religion, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press (Amendment I). Under the "Gonzales doctrine," this means that there is no inherent freedom of religion, speech, or the press.
The Constitution merely states that, "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence." (Amendment VI).
Apparently, Gonzales believes that we don't really have the right to a trial by jury, or to know what we're being charged with, or to bring in witnesses, or to have a lawyer.
Never mind that the ninth amendment explicitly states that, "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." Never mind that this means we have more rights than those explicitly stated in the Constitution.
We're talking about the nation's chief law enforcement officer saying that American citizens have no rights except those he deems to be explicitly spelled out in the Constitution in a manner determined by his twisted little mind. And nobody is demanding that he resign or be fired!
Where is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi? Where is Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid? Where is Patrick Leahy, the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee? Why aren't these supposed "leaders" holding a major press conference? Why hasn't this insane, tyrannical, un-American cretin being run out of town on a rail?
For that matter, where are their Republican counterparts? Where are House Minority Leader John Boehner, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Arlen Specter? Senator Specter did question Gonzales with what appeared to be great incredulity over Gonzales' outlandish statement, but once the hearing was over Specter seems to have disappeared on this issue.
Will it take a bloody and horrifying second American revolution to restore the rights for which our forefathers pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor?
Copyright 2007, Dan Jacoby
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