Gonzales In

In my Ashcroft Out post, I stated that Bush’s choice for a new Attorney General was going to be telling.

Well we got some insight with the choice of Alberto Gonzales.  First, we see that Bush is a gifted politician.  He sees that the hispanic vote is up for grabs and he intends to help make it Republican by filling important slots with hispanics.  That’s smart politics.

Second we see that he picked a loyalist. That’s not surprsing.  Bush values loyalty over almost everything else.  This Justice Department will simply be a wing of the white house.

Third, he picked someone who is less idealogical and more political.  I think that’s good for the most part.  Polarizing figures aren’t good cabinet officers.

Apparently Gonzales, as a Texas Supreme Court Judge, allowed a teenage girl to get an abortion without her parent’s knowledge because that was the Texas law.  I can’t imagine Ashcroft ruling that way.

On the other hand, this is the man who wrote the memo approving of torture in Abu Ghraib and there may be some connection to scandal ridden Enron, although I am not all that certain about it.

The nomination hearings will bring this man’s background and views on a host of subject to light.

But in my quick reading about him, I feel better, not worse, about the likely new Attorney General.