Tuesday, July 31
It seems every time Attorney General Alberto Gonzales opens his mouth before the Senate Judiciary Committee, he gets himself into deeper trouble.
Perhaps that is by design.

The casual observer might wonder why Gonzales seemed to be so carefree in the face of senator after senator calling him a liar. It might be because he could end up like Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, and never serve a minute of time in jail, no matter what he gets charged with.

Did Gonzales commit perjury in his testimony before the committee on Tuesday? It certainly looks like it, especially after FBI director Robert Mueller directly contradicted Gonzales' statements regarding President Bush's secret wiretapping program.

Gonzales appears to be headed down the same path as the only previous attorney general to face criminal charges — John Mitchell, Richard Nixon's attorney general.

Mitchell, like Gonzales, authorized illegal wiretaps on American citizens (mostly people that President Nixon deemed his political enemies) and defended the wiretaps on the grounds of national security. Mitchell was eventually found guilty of perjury, obstruction of justice and conspiracy and was sentenced to 30 months in prison in 1975.

Gonzales, the architect of many of the Bush administration's most egregious abuses of the Constitution and international law, has plenty to hide and his expertly deployed obfuscation before the Judiciary Committee sounded like he was doing everything in his power to defend President Bush and keep the secrets he knows hidden.

What Gonzales knows echoes what Mitchell did during Watergate. The reason why the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was enacted in 1978 was to prevent a repeat of what the Nixon administration did — illegal wiretapping of American citizens.

FISA requires the government to seek federal court approval before conducting surveillance. President Bush has for years refused to abide by this law. He has proudly admitted in public that he has not abided by this law. In other words, President Bush repeatedly violated federal law. Grounds for impeachment? Certainly, but we know most of the current members of Congress are too afraid to take on President Bush. It's far less risky to pummel Gonzales.

In that way, Gonzales is doing his job. He's deflecting attention away from the criminal acts of his boss, secure in the knowledge that if he is charged and ultimately convicted of perjury, obstruction of justice and criminal conspiracy, he'll get pardoned like Libby and be taken care of for any legal inconveniences he might have to suffer.

As has been pointed out in this space often, the Bush administration doesn't care what Congress or the American people think.

President Bush long ago decided he doesn't have to follow any law that he doesn't like. He can defy Congress, secure in the knowledge that he can get away with it. That's because Congress refuses to impeach Bush despite the multitude of crimes he and his administration have committed.

We are entering into a dangerous time for our Constitution and our country. If Congress wishes to remain a meaningful and independent branch of our government, it must rein in the executive branch. The tool for doing this is impeachment. The time for doing this is now.

— Brattleboro Reformer