Gonzales Derangement Syndrome

My senator, Dianne Feinstein, she who has never addressed her husband's profiteering from her Senate seat, said today Alberto Gonzales "should be held to the highest ethical standards" and called for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate whether Gonzales perjured himself in Congressional testimony about the Terrorist Surveillance Program (TSP).

Three other Dem Sens joined her: Charles Schumer, Russ Feingold and Sheldon Whitehouse.

In reporting the story, despite mounds of criticism about its careless reporting on the subject, AP continues to mis-report, saying "the terrorist surveillance program, which allowed the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on suspects in the United States without receiving prior court approval." Of course it did not; it was a program of intercepting foreign communications, not domestic.

That's not terribly relevant to the call for a special prosecutor, but it is extremely relevant to the greater story of the Dems' Gonzales Derangement Syndrome. The parallels with Condi Rice are just amazing. Both are minorities. Both came from working class beginnings. Both worked their way up, realizing the American dream and stand as an example to young blacks and Hispanics of what can be accomplished in this great, remarkably unracist country.

But since they grew up to become conservatives, the Dems must attack them, destroy their reputations and drag their example through the mud -- even if it shatters the American dream for thousands of youngsters and even if it is jeopardizes national security.

Gonzales appears to be deeply trusted by GWB, but does not appear to be a particularly savvy lawyer or competent administrator. Still, let's look at the bare bones of this case:

• TSP had opponents and defenders, and underwent a vigorous internal debate, after which the defenders prevailed,
• Warrantless "wiretaps" were only used when matters were so time-sensitive that normal procedures could not be followed; there is no evidence that time sensitivity was ever wrongly used as an excuse to cover questionable probes,
• The courts issued a gray-area illegality finding and suggested easy remedies; while a defeat for Bush and Gonzales, the decision was hardly a finding of black and white evil-doing by the administration;
• The Dem position ultimately prevailed, even though it probably weakened our intelligence gathering capabilities.

All in all, a victory for the Dems -- but they can't let it rest because they can't recognize victory unless a body is broken and bleeding at their feet; in this case, Gonzales' body.

Their new attack, like the Scooter Libby conviction, is on ribbon-thin grounds, and like their earlier TSP victory, threatens to further weaken our security.

It boils down to Gonzales' testimony vs. the facts at the time, but there's disagreement over what the testimony covered. The Dem Sens say it was about TSP; Gonzales says it was about another program he cannot discuss publicly.

The Dem Sens could have clarified all this during the AG's testimony this week -- he offered to describe in closed session the program he said he was talking about, but they refused. They refused because it could have closed the door on this latest quest for blood.

Rather than seek the easy answer, the Dem Sens want a multi-million dollar special investigation into the AG -- a perfect ploy because it will so hobble the Justice Department that they're assured Gonzales will not be able to accomplish anything positive before the next election. No wonder they weren't interested in learning what program Gonzales was talking about.

Worse, there's the program Gonzales was talking about. Whatever it is, it's top secret and still functioning despite the Dem attacks on TSP. Last week, its existence was unknown to the public. Now the combination of Dem pushing and Gonzales ineptitude as a witness has made the public aware that some program we don't know about exists.

A program we don't know about is a vacuum the media wants at all cost -- including national security costs -- to fill. That means NYT, WaPo, AP and other reporters are hounding their leaky sources looking for someone, anyone, who will spill the beans.

I give it less than a week before we see this program splashed over the front page of one of the majors, no matter what its revealing will do to diminish our security or put at risk our agents in the field -- the agents the media was all concerned about when it was Plame's outing that supposedly put them in jeopardy. Oblivious to this, the Dems will strive to paint the program as illegal, even if it's not, and even if doing so brings it more out into the open, because they have proven they can only put themselves first, never national security.

The Left's desire to trounce Bush and any minorities that align with him is about to damage our country once again. Bush should squelch this phony investigation. If it moves forward, Gonzales should resign in order to do whatever he can to protect the top secret program his testimony has now jeopardized.