Alberto Gonzales sounds like a typical person behaving badly, which makes him a fabulous choice for W’s cabinet! There’s been much in the news about this bad ass’s bad behavior, but here are a few of my favorite things (not to invoke the Sound of Music – Although, I wish some great songwriter would take the low points of W’s administration and write them to the tune of “These are a few of my favorite things”).
GONZALES SAYS GENEVA CONVENTION IS QUAINT AND OBSOLETE: In a 2002 memo, he wrote, "the war against terrorism is a new kind of war . . . this new paradigm renders obsolete Geneva's strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some of its provisions." The memo argues that al Qaeda and Taliban detainees should be exempt from the Geneva Conventions' provisions on the proper, legal treatment of prisoners. The administration has been adamant that prisoners at Guantanamo are not protected by the Geneva Conventions. I hate Osama’s crew and the Taliban, too, but Nazi’s weren’t exactly golden retriever puppies, and we applied the rules of the Geneva Convention for them, yes?
EVEN GONZALES THINKS HE’S BAD FOR THE MILITARY (So why doesn’t W agree?): In the same memo mentioned above, Gonzales acknowledges that ignoring the Geneva Conventions could create problems for the military – they might do bad things like stacking prisoners naked on top of each other and snapping photos to keepsake the fun. He says that failing to apply the Geneva Conventions "could undermine U.S. military culture which emphasizes maintaining the highest standards of conduct in combat, and could introduce an element of uncertainty in the status of adversaries," Kind of like Abu Ghraib. Okay, just like Abu Ghraib.
GONZALES REDEFINES TORTURE, AND IT”S NOT QUAINT:
According to Newsweek, an August 2002 Justice Department Memo was drafted after meetings convened with Gonzales. The Memo opined that laws prohibiting torture “do not apply to the President’s detention and interrogation of enemy combatants.” They meant like the French or Michael Moore, oh, and Al Quada, too. The memo redefined torture as “injury such as death, organ failure, or serious impairment of body functions.” Why go to so much trouble? Just make them watch reruns of all of W’s speech. Listen to how he says “Tourist” instead of “Terrorist.” At first it may seem funny, but after hearing it for the 50th time, they’ll beg to have some organ failure.
