10 points by the end of the day. Thinking people only please: Should Alberto Gonzales step down?

Question

Preface:

Thanks to the anonymity of Internet, it is so easy to bang away on the keyboard and just spew out names and put downs that might make you feel good but never get to the an answer. Since this is Yahoo Answers and not Yahoo flame War, I want to see you think and respond. Don't just say yes or no. Don't just spit out flame at the other side of the aisle.

Now the question for 10 points by the end of the day:

Given his conduct in office during his tenure as US Attorney General, should Alberto Gonzales resign or face impeachment? If you think yes he should resign or face impeachment, please state why. If you think no he should be allowed to stay in office, which would be an interesting argument, state why he should complete his tenure.

I'll reserve my own opinions, so as not to taint the answer pool.

To answer Mommanuke: When I say, that Gonzales staying is an "interesting argument" I say that given the amount of posts in the past week calling for his head, it would be interesting to see someone post an argument that doesn't call for his firing or one that defends his tenure thus far. It is far easier to just say "Yes" given the amount of people who feel the same way. Defending the "No" position takes far more effort.

To answer I love mcredneck:

In the body of my question I asked "SHOULD" he face impeachment. If you stopped to read THE WHOLE QUESTION, title and body, thought for a second and then responded maybe I wouldn't have just read the 280 word gripe fest you just unleashed. Dear God woman, who peed in your corn flakes this morning?

You know, I'm sorry I can't frame it with more detail but I only get 110 characters in the title. Then I get who knows how much of a rant on what people SHOULD be doing with their elected officials, the democratic congress, and vote buying. I know it may be tough sometimes, given how charged debate gets but is it too much to ask you stay on point with your answers? Thank you.

Answer 1

Very tough question . I watched a large panel(mostly Dems) discussing Gonzalez on MSNBC yesterday . Funny thing is , every one of them agreed on one point. . . They could not believe that Gonzalez seems to withstand constant attacks(like President Bush) and doesn't buckle , doesn't fold , and seemingly isn't all that adversely affected !!
What I saw was a panel that was impressed at least with his fortitude . None of them believed he could take it even for this long . I don't know if they were 'happy impressed' or 'surprised impressed' . But either way , it was refreshing to see Dems recognize that their onslaught would kill any lesser man !!
If he resigns , it would certainly help the President . And kudos to the President for his fortitude as well . But there is more to the story . Insiders say that there has been some searching for a replacement but no one wants the job in the current 'attack mode' environment .(another thing for Dems to think about) .
In the interest of the country(unfortunately so and wrongly so , but reality) the President may have to replace him .
But then again , I think it would also be in the interest of the country that the Dems stop their wild goose chases . There's guilt on both sides . Even the Dem panelists said that Gonzalez's comments and testimony could be viewed many different ways and probably wasn't a lie .
You could ask people on here about what they said months ago or years ago and no doubt nearly everyone will forget and contradict themselves on something .
They planned their attack one way(attorney firings) and got nothing . It should've ended there . Gonzalez should not resign. BTW Liberals , even your own commentators said that this could all end up back-firing on the Dem Party !! Yeah , with congressional approval in the teens and plummeting , ya don't see too many people quoting the President's approval ratings anymore do ya !!

Answer 2

The Attorney General should NOT step down. Clearly, this whole thing is for and about politics. If anyone should step down it is Sen.Schumer and Leahy.
These Senators know that Gonzales can not explicitly answer their questions since the programs are secret.
Personally, I think that Gonzales is not the most clever or devious person and probably has made some errors while trying to answer the questions while not inadvertently releasing classified material.
This whole thing is a witch hunt where the goal is to trip up, confuse, and generally make the administration look bad.

Answer 3

Interesting question.

It would be a delicate political maneuver for any resignation by Gonzales to not become fodder for the Democrats, even though such a move might be warranted.

I think he should step down because he's become a lightening rod for the Democrats, a permanent front-page leading story whipping boy for all the problems (real and imaginary) that Democrats associate with the Bush Administration.

But Bush would need to make it known that he was very reluctant to accept the resignation, but for the fact that the continual Democratic investigations was hampering the ability of Gonzales to do his job effectively.

Now, I don't think Gonzales has done anything wrong, but his testimony has been somewhat an embarrassment.

Bush should have selected someone more independent of his inner circle as successor to Ashcroft, IMO.

Answer 4

I think he should resign for the same reason that Nixon did - because an impeachment would bring more dishonor to the American government. Impeachment proceedings would create even more division at a time when the country desperately needs to pull together. We are at war. The economy is in serious trouble. We have no solution for immigration. Our health care system isn't working. Social Security is in trouble. The dollar is weak. Our trade deficit is out of whack.

Answer 5

I really think right now he should stay (and in a purely selfish move that I am sick of the entire controversy and hearing democrats demand him to talk on a wide range of issues that they politically disagree with the administration on I wish he would resign) because this is political by the democrats and once they have Gonzales scalp they will move to a new WH figure, just as they did when the Administration gave them Rumsfeld's resignation.

Answer 6

To me, the key issue here is the bi-partisan support for continued probing into this case.
Arlen Specter was all over the news on Sunday speaking on just this subject. He's not willing go to so far as to call for impeachment, but he knows that Gonzales has lied and wants ( and will get) to the truth of this story. He is willing to work with the Democrats to rectify this breach of law by the Executive branch of the government.

The bottom line is that the only reason Bush is sticking behind AG is because of their long term association with him and his sense of loyalty he feels for the man. Otherwise he would have already been gone. Then there's this:
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Paper_details_Gonzaless_decade_of_dishonesty_0730.html

To me, the real sickening part of this story is the late night visit to the hospital to obtain Ashcrofts signature to allow illegal wiretaps to continue without warrant against American citizens while Ashcroft was not in a proper mental state to make a clear decision. This link mentions it, but research for yourself elsewhere to get more details:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/07/30/leahy_presses_gonzales_to_clarify_testimony_about_spying/

As of now, this situation only makes Bush and Gonzales look even more arrogant and truly belies their belief that they are above the law. There are several reasons why he should step down, not only for appearance but because of the legal ramifications that will eventually arise out of this mess.
We do not have the time for another "Kenneth Starr" like investigation. We have too many problems that need to be dealt with.
Gonzales needs to fess up and take his punishment like a man for the good of the country.

On a personal note, Im becomming more and more sickened by politicians and political appointees who continue to function as if they are not bound by the laws of the country.
If you do screw up, admit it. The resources that are going into proving these idiots are liars is wasting valuable time and taxpayer dollars.
Be MEN! Grab a pair and take responsibility for your actions.

Answer 7

I think so because he seems to be a very ineffectual leader of the department.

I do not know whether he committed perjury or not. I assume that will all be investigated.

Congress is going on recess. Gonzales should step down and Bush should make a recess appointment. Any confirmation hearing would be brutal.

And perjury charges can be pursued after he resigns, if warranted.

Answer 8

Yes he should step down, he's obviously perjured himself in Congressional testimony, he's helped politicize an agency that should be absolutely void of politics, he's lost the trust of many who work under him, he has relegated important functions withing the Justice Department to inexperienced political lackey's, he's left 24 US Attorney's positions unfilled, of those vacancies only 6 possible successors have been named but have not even been submitted to Congress for confirmation thus weakening our already fragile Justice system, Justice is the cornerstone of the American system of Democracy and has such requires a far greater level of accountability than most other positions within Government Gonzales has proven himself inept and unethical and therefore unworthy of the post he currently holds

Answer 9

A clear explanation for requesting his dismissal is absent, and amid the controversial testimony how can they (we) make a decision? The politicians calling for his resignation, the first being Sununu, followed by Hillary Clinton and Mark Pryor, make me suspect of the charges and timing. I have no faith in any of the above mentioned.

I think this is an another case of "only watch my right hand" while the left does whatever it pleases.

I think he should be left alone to finish his tenure.

Answer 10

If you knew that when you turned on the light switch it cost the life of one person would you happily run around turning on switches .
See the cost of mining raw materials like copper and aluminum and the injuries and deaths that occur around the world as governments are paid to support these new jobs and the use of force ensues and people are killed trying to protest and change a government that allows Americans to come in and use the people to dig the ore in unsafe mines with no regard or benefits to the workers , build the rail lines and ship the ore to container ships or worse refine the ore there polluting the water and causing even more deaths for you to switch on a light would you do it .
If you really thought about the cost in humane lives would you continue on the path you are on .
Lets just say that whats good for Bush is good for the nation and so is Gonzo until Bush is out and then we will follow the next idiots plans .
My feeling is almost all politicians are criminals .