MORE WISDOM ON GONZALES

There is more wisdom, and it isn't coming from Ruben Navarette of the Dallas Morning News. He is defending Gonzales with every drop of ink. What is great is that he wouldn't need to devote so many column inches trashing Gonzales' appointments, who he simply labels as "liberals," if folks like the National Lawyers Guild and People for the American Way weren't doing such a great job. Remember, when he was first suggested, he was not controversial at all, and Latino organizations were drooling over him. I think we've muddied up the waters as much as we could under the circumstances.

Here is a post from Zafar I think is appropriate: Despite repeated questioning, Mr. Gonzales declined to state whether he stands by the now-repudiated Justice Department August 2002 opinion that the president, as commander-in-chief, has the power to suspend international treaties and federal law governing torture. [more]

hmm. maybe if we put a hood over his face, clamp a car-battery charger to his dick and let the dogs out at him, Gonzalez might reconsider. just a thought.

And here is an opposition statement from The National Latina/o Law Students Association:

Greetings NLLSA Members and Supporters, Our organization was asked to consider whether or not to support the appointment of Judge Alberto Gonzales to the position of Attorney General of the United States. We felt that it was important that we take a stand on this issue as there seems to be division amongst our community regarding Judge Gonzales¹ qualifications. The National Latina/o Law Students Association cannot endorse the appointment of Judge Gonzales for the following reasons.

First and foremost, Judge Gonzales has not effectively shown us that he isan advocate for human and civil rights, immigrant rights, or affirmative action, all key issues that NLLSA promulgates and considers to be basictenets of achieving equality in this country. Our mission statement wasexpressly written to include these and other important human rights concernsand as NLLSA¹s Chair, I am charged with a duty to advocate on behalf of mymembership when these concerns are threatened. Today I am asking that othernational and local student organizations join us in opposing the appointmentof Judge Gonzales.

Second, as law students and future legal advocates it is our duty to abideby the laws of this country and by the treaties that this country makes. We are taught how to interpret, analyze and follow the law in the bestinterests of not only our clients, but our communities as a whole. We do not have the freedom to say that the law will apply to some and not toothers, or even that the law can be set aside under special circumstances orby certain people. In this respect, law students are taught to be ethical. By choosing to stay silent or by choosing to support the appointment of Judge Gonzales our organization would be condoning unethical practices in order to achieve success.

The fact that Judge Gonzales is aMexican-American who has worked his way out of poverty deems much respect. However, these two facts alone, should not automatically garner the supportof our community. As Dr. King once said, we should all be judged by the content of ourcharacter and not by the color of our skin. We are not opposing a brownman. We are opposing the ideology that would allow a human being to be tortured, detained without legal counsel if the situation was deemed fit, not given the opportunity to seek legal counsel from their home country, or sentenced to death without an adequate exercise of their rights. With all due respect, the National Latina/o Law Students Association opposesthe appointment of Judge Gonzales to the position of Attorney General of theUnited States.

Sincerely,
Mercedes V. CastilloChair, NLLSA