Alberto Gonzales made it through the Senate Judiciary Committee today, with the vote split evenly along party lines. I'm sad to say that one of my representatives, Mike DeWine of Ohio, toed the Republican party line like a good little kid and voted to confirm him. Now it goes to a vote in the full Senate.
I've written my senators already. Or, I should say, I've written to their staff. It's pretty much a given that the senators don't bother to read any correspondence they receive from the ordinary people they represent, but I had to try anyway. Here is a copy of my letter to Senator Voinovich. It's a shame; Voinovich is well-regarded here in Cleveland for helping to turn the city around, and I've heard him speak: he seems basically like a good guy. If not for the fact that since he's been in office he's been like a rubber stamp for the bad policies of the Bush administration, I might have even voted for him.
Please listen to your conscience and vote NO on Alberto Gonzales for Attorney General.
I am very disappointed to hear that Sen. DeWine voted to confirm Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General in the SJC, and I hope that you won't make the same mistake when it comes to a vote in the full Senate.
Gonzales is the author of the US justification for torture. That's the issue, and that is how history will judge you.
As a citizen, a representative, a father, a husband, a grandfather, a member of the church, and a Cleveland resident... Please help our country put a stop to this madness. No more rubberstamping bad policies. You are a better man than this.
If you don't stand up, who will?
Senator Voinovich is one of a scant hundred Americans with the opportunity to stand up and really make his voice heard, to speak for the millions of Americans he represents and say no to torture. Will he do so? Probably not. But if you feel the same way, I urge you to write to your Senators and try to convince them to see reason. Gonzales doesn't deserve a place in the U.S. government, and confirming him would be a mistake with far-reaching implications.
