U.S. Senate Democrats demonstrated a will of tempered tapioca in failing to filibuster the nomination of White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales for Attorney General of the United States.
The final vote this afternoon to confirm Gonzales was 60-36, with four senators not voting, and a handful of Democrats such as former 2000 vice-presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) and long-time administration supporter Mary Landrieu (D-La.) towing the administration line.
Connecticut's other Democratic senator, Christopher Dodd, was firmly in the anti-Gonzales camp, remarking, "If Mr. Gonzales can't reach a conclusion about the illegality and immorality of torture, what can he reach a conclusion about? What does it say about our nation's commitment to the rule of law?"
Dodd also cited his father Thomas Dodd's role as a prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials, adding that he couldn't support an attorney general who "endorsed the position that torture can be permissible."
Dodd's point echoed the fight in the Senate Judiciary Committee, which had split along party lines in recommending Gonzales' confirmation late last month. There, committee Democrats noted that Gonzales had failed to explain fully his role in finding quasi-legal excuses for the administration to ignore the Geneva Conventions in order to torture "enemy combatants" held at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Graib prison in Iraq, and failed to make clear what part Gonzales played in the creation of the extra-constitutional category of "enemy combatant" itself.
Other Democrats on the pro-administration side were Bill Nelson (Fla.) and Ben Nelson (Neb.), both of whose terms expire in 2009; Mark Pryor (Ark.) and the newly elected Ken Salazar (Colo.). Three other Democrats – Max Baucus (Mont.), Kent Conrad (N. Dak.) and Daniel Inouye (Hi.) – missed the vote altogether.
In their vocal support for Gonzales, Republicans for the most part took a break from reality, with ultra-conservatives like Mitch McConnell (Ky.) claiming, "Judge Gonzales doesn't owe anybody an apology for his record, but some owe him an apology for rimracking him with phony allegations instead of honoring his willingness to serve his country."
Some Republicans also "played the race card," suggesting that those who didn't support Gonzales for the post were prejudiced against Hispanics.
Adult industry members have good reason to be wary of Gonzales' leadership, since during the confirmation hearings, in response to statements by Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) that porn had "grown much more potent, much more addictive, much more pervasive, much more impactful," Gonzales committed to enforcing the federal obscenity laws. It is doubtful that the decision by U.S. District Court Judge Gary Lancaster, striking down the predominant method of application of those laws in the Extreme Associates case, will affect Gonzales' commitment.
