“When it was still just a rumor that Gonzales would replace John Ashcroft as attorney general, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos opined that ‘even that kind of a cosmetic change’ – appointing the first Hispanic attorney general – ‘would suggest a change in tone.’
That’s right. What offended people about Ashcroft’s tenure at DOJ weren’t his policies, his intelligence, or his skill as an administrator. It was the deafeningly ‘white’ tone emanating from everything he did. And, besides, we all know those Hispanics are just plain nicer.
It seems, however, that Gonzales’ ethnic force-field couldn’t fully protect him from reality, as he faced tough questions in his confirmation hearings about his role in the treatment of ‘enemy combatants,’ as well as in the phantasmagorically exaggerated horrors of Guantanamo. (For all of the talk about how Ashcroft was the mustache-twirling evil mastermind behind these things, it took Gonzales’ nomination to make Ashcroft’s critics realize that the outgoing A.G. had nothing to do with them. That stuff was all run by the Department of Defense and the White House Counsel’s Office.)”
Well, isn’t that the truth. Read the whole thing.
Tags: BitsBlog
