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By Kenneth J. Theisen, 1/18/06

On Wednesday, January 17, 2007, in a speech before the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), Attorney General Alberto Gonzales continued the Bush regime's recent attacks on the legal profession and the legal rights of all of us.  Recently the regime attacked lawyers for representing those accused as "terrorists" (See "They Attack Lawyers, Don't They"). Yesterday Gonzales expanded the attack to federal judges by warning them not to interfere in cases involving "national security."

In his speech he stated judges are not "equipped to make decisions about "presidential actions done to preserve national security." A judge will never be in the position to know what is in the "national security interest of the country," he claimed. He exclaimed the superior knowledge of the Bush regime because the courts "don't have embassies around the world gathering up information. I try to imagine myself being a judge. What do I know about what is going on in Afghanistan or Guantanamo? How are judges supposed to gather up the information, the collective wisdom of the entire executive branch ... and make a determination as to what is in the national security interest of our country? They're not capable of doing that."

Of course we all know about the superior knowledge of the Bush regime which led to the Iraq war. After repeated lies to the world about almost all the regime's actions, Gonzales is now telling the courts and the nation to trust the regime to do what is right and in the best interest of the rest of us.  Well maybe the fools at the AEI are willing to do that, but the people are not that foolish.

The regime is trying to intimidate judges to look the other way when the regime commits torture, denies long-standing legal rights and precedents, and otherwise ignores the law.  This regime has abolished habeas corpus, the right to be free from unlawful search and seizure, the right to trial by jury, the right to an attorney in many cases and many more fundamental legal rights. Now it wants to abolish the long standing rights of the courts to exercise judicial review of presidential actions, as well as the doctrine of separation of powers. 

These concerted attacks must be met by wide-spread opposition of the legal profession and the public.  We can not afford to standby as fundamental legal freedoms are abolished one by one. The Bush regime wants to establish an imperial presidency unaccountable to the courts, congress, or anyone that would impede its crimes. 

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