Letters to the Editor
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Gonzales - an example (of something)
I remember I was dating a law student when Gonzales' torture memo first began circulating in legal circles. She gave it to me to read, and though I'm no lawyer, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I had to read it twice before it completely sank in. I remember thinking, and saying at the time, that it was the nearest thing I'd heard of in American legal history to calling for a total end to democracy in favor of autocratic executive authority. It was something I would have expected to read in the official papers of some Reichsmarshal; that was what made it so stunning. Gonzales' apointment as Attorney General was no great surprise, considering the long line of human garbage Bush had already appointed to other key positions. What's a surprise is that it's taken this long for the progressive press to make noise about Gonzales' record and what it _really means_ to this country. We are dealing, in Gonzales, with a man who has no more regard for democracy or the rule of law than does Osama Bin Laden; and even less of a coherent ethos. But let's face it: At this point, the issues are too complex for the willfully undereducated American public to comprehend; the fear is too strong for them to reject the government's version of events; and our society is on a fast track to dictatorship, thanks in no small part to the media's captitulation to the right-wing propaganda machine since the ascention of these criminals.