Dumb Like a Fox
January 25th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
Our own homegrown U.S. Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales — a former Texas Supreme Court justice — had a doozy of a performance before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee recently. The hearing featured the following quote in an exchange between Gonzales and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) about the writ of habeas corpus, which grants you the right to challenge in court your detention by the government:
Gonzales: “There is no express grant of habeas corpus in the Constitution. There’ s a prohibition against taking it away.”
What’s the difference, you may ask? We’ll let Gonzales explain that one. Here’s the video by way of youtube.
After watching the clip, we’re tempted to conclude that the esteemed Attorney General of the United States is, to put it bluntly, a moron. While that may in fact be the case, his reasoning here appears to have its own insidious logic. It’s another example — though, admittedly, one of the clumsier ones — of the same absurdly literalist arguments that strict constructionists have used for years to deny people basic rights.
Here’s Stephen Colbert’s must-watch take on Gonzales’ iron-clad reasoning, based on the well-known precedent of Brady v. Brady.
February 13th, 2007 at 11:02 am
[…] Sec. Paige also said he didn’t see “that bright line,” and, in a flourish accented with shades of Al Gonzales, added, “I believe if you examine the Texas Constitution, you’ll find there’s no specific mention of a public school system.” Of course, that all depends on how you interpret the Article 7 duty to create and maintain “an efficient system of public free schools.” […]
March 2nd, 2007 at 4:28 am
seems to me the first amendment does not specifically grant any of the “5 freedoms”-it merely restricts congress from making law in these areas.
nor the second-the right “shall not be abridged”, but there’s no specific granted right there either.
know why there’s no need to specifically grant these freedoms?
beause in america all power devolves to the people-unless the people’s power is restricted by a particular law.
government, on the other hand, has no rights at all-unless enumerated by law.
perhaps gonzalez could use a tenth-grade civics student as an office intern.