The November 2nd election is over, the results are in and the country moves forward.  The new Congress was sworn in yesterday. 
 
The liberals are panicking. On Thursday the Senate will begin to consider President Bush's nomination of Alberto Gonzalez as Attorney General to replace the departing John Ashcroft.  The libs hated Ashcroft and are expressing the same feelings for his successor.  Ah well, at least they are consistent.
 
Using words like radical, extreme, appalling and dangerous to describe Gonzalez, MoveOn.org  is asking him to sign their Declaration Against Torture and urging members to ask their Senators to press Gonzalez on the torture issue. 
 
MoveOn is not alone in this campaign——they have proudly joined with Amnesty International, FaithfulAmerica, TrueMajority and Win Without War —— you get the idea —— in producing their declaration:  
 
Gonzales' record is appalling. Prisoners of war from all nations have long been protected by the Geneva Conventions. In 2002, Gonzales wrote a memo to President Bush arguing the war on terror renders the Geneva Conventions "quaint" and "obsolete."1 His radical legal reasoning opened the door to the terrible abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay.2 Even in light of this atrocity, Gonzales has never retracted or clarified what has come to be known as the secret "Torture Memo." . . .

Torture isn't just immoral and illegal —— it's a strategic mistake that makes us all less safe. Responding to Gonzales' torture memo, Secretary of State Colin Powell wrote that ignoring the Geneva Conventions will "undermine the protections of the law of war for our troops." And by inciting anti—American hatred, torture bolsters the position of extremists and boosts terrorist recruitment, making the world less secure. Torture doesn't even work to find out about attacks before they happen, since people usually give falsified information to escape the pain.

As President Bush's chief legal adviser, Gonzales crafted means of evading the founding principle that the U.S. is a nation of laws, not of men. His infamous "Torture Memo" paved the way to Abu Ghraib, robbing America of international respect. . . .

Whatever your feelings on torture —— or your definition of it —— be prepared for another smear campaign by the left. 

Ethel C. Fenig   1 05 05