Constant to the Bitter End
From the New York Times:
“A senior administration official said today that Mr. Gonzales, who was in Washington, had called the president in Crawford, Tex., on Friday to offer his resignation. The president rebuffed the offer, but said the two should talk face to face on Sunday.
Mr. Gonzales and his wife flew to Texas, and over lunch on Sunday the president accepted the resignation with regret, the official said.
On Saturday night Mr. Gonzales was contacted by his press spokesman to ask how the department should respond to inquiries from reporters about rumors of his resignation, and he told the spokesman to deny the reports.
White House spokesmen also insisted on Sunday that they did not believe that Mr. Gonzales was planning to resign. Aides to senior members of the Senate Judiciary Committee said over the weekend that they had received no suggestion from the administration that Mr. Gonzales intended to resign.
As late as Sunday afternoon, Mr. Gonzales himself was denying through his spokesman that he was quitting. The spokesman, Brian Roehrkasse, said Sunday that he telephoned the attorney general about the reports of his imminent resignation ‘and he said it wasn’t true — so I don’t know what more I can say.’”
So what does this weekend scenario tell us about the Attorney General’s veracity leading up to his resignation? He has no problem lying and telling others to lie. Wouldn’t an honest man become unavailable to take calls? If pressed say “I have no intention of commenting on this story.” Nope, our Attorney General told his employee to deny the report on Saturday night. On Sunday he lied to a spokesman that was then apologetic to the press, “…I don’t know what more I can say (when the Attorney General is flat lying to me)”
Little lies belie big lies, even if they don't precede them.
5 comments:
A rose by any other name, Dave. You know that line, I'm sure.
Yes I do; but, too often by spinning the name of something these days, we think we change what we name.
This administration, even more than the Nixon administration, seem to lie just out of habit. Even when they have nothing to gain by doing so.
Is it January of 2009 yet? So tired of this. *sigh*
In governing, some lies are necessary. Weekly status reports on the progress of the Manhattan Project wouldn't have done anyone much good... except maybe the Germans. (The Russians were stealing stuff almost from the start so keeping the project a secret there meant nothing.)
But to lie gratuitously, without need or advantage -- in fact when no lies need be told at all -- just flat out amazes me.
It's almost forgotten in the verbiage concerning Gonzalez that the President had the absolute right to discharge the various U.S. Attorneys and that he discharged fewer than most second term Presidents -- there just was no reason at all to denigrate the performance of these individuals as Gonzalez did.
For nothing.
All he needed to say was they had their turn and we want to give someone else a turn.
And no one could have said beans.
It is frustrating to watch.
Post a Comment