[ OUR OPINION ]
Bush nominee carries load
of controversial baggage
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Just a few days after his resignation was announced, Ashcroft condemned federal judges who have issued rulings contrary to the policies of the Bush administration, saying they do so at the peril of national security.
The statement echoes Ashcroft's previous pronouncements that those who question presidential actions to fight terrorism lend succor to terrorists, and illustrates his disdain for constitutional separation of powers.
In contrast, Alberto Gonzales, President Bush's choice to take the Justice Department helm, would appear to be the antithesis of the polarizing Ashcroft.
Not quite so. The White House counsel carries a load of controversy himself, authoring a memo advising the administration on how to skirt safeguards against torturing terrorist suspects, setting the stage for the ugly events at Abu Ghraib prison and human rights abuses at Guantanamo Bay.
Gonzales also has been the chief advocate in the administration's crusade for secrecy, maneuvering an executive order that severely restricts public access to presidential documents.
Conservatives aren't pleased with Gonzales' nomination because of what they see as his failure to take a tougher stance on abortion and affirmative action. However, the White House strategy -- shaped by Bush's chief political operative, Karl Rove -- is to burnish his credentials as a prelude to an appointment to the Supreme Court. A stint at the Justice Department would give Gonzales a chance to show Bush's conservative base that he is truly one of them. At the same time, confirmation hearings for attorney general will offer an opportunity to clear away the dispute concerning the memo and Gonzales' role in crafting the contentious Patriot Act.
Ashcroft will be a hard act to follow, not because of his diatribes and penchant to exaggerate indictments. He leaves the department with little to show in investigating and prosecuting domestic terrorism cases. He has bungled arrests, scooped up innocent people on faulty information and gathered a string of dismissals and lost legal battles. Meanwhile, post-9/11 improvements of the FBI remain incomplete as Ashcroft chose instead to focus on intimidating judges and pursuing an ideological agenda far beyond his purview, something he swore he would not do during his own confirmation hearings.
Gonzales might not face as close scrutiny as Ashcroft, but the Senate should use the occasion to question him vigorously, not to obstruct his appointment but to gauge his disposition and credentials to assume the job of chief law enforcement officer of the nation.
