Action: Gonzales Confirmation

This coming Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee takes up confirmation hearings for Attorney General-in-waiting Alberto Gonzales. For the past few years, Gonzales' office (as the Whitehoue Attorney) has served as the justifier-in-chief for the current American Gulag scenario that I described yesterday. He's also the primary architect of the Bush War Crimes Torture Doctrine.

While I don't expect any Democrat to seriously challenge the Gonzales nomination, I do believe it's important that as many voices as possible be heard in opposition. Please join me in the following exercise:

1. Read Digby's posting from yesterday on this issue.
   
2. Read my posting below on the American Gulag situation.
   
3. sukabi was kind enough to provide links for emailing all congressional representatives in this posting.
   
4. Call or write to all members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

If we learned nothing else from the tenure of John Ashcroft, it's that having an Attorney General who consistently renders decisions and directives that contravene the Bill of Rights and Constitution of the United States is not a good thing.

This will be the first occasion since the election that progressives really have the opportunity to make some noise on something that matters. While I'm not pollyanna-ish enough to believe than anything will derail the Gonzales confirmation, what I'd like to do is send a message not so much to the GOP rubber stamp members, but to the Democrat senators that sit on the committee - we will not stand by idly while ranking Dems in the senate continue the sellout of our moral values to the right.

The acceptance of torture and indefinite imprisonment without due process is not one of our (or America's) values.