Something Not Unkind About Alberto
If I promise not to make a habit of it, may I say something not unkind about almost former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales? Most of the hits on him have been, in my view, well-founded. He is not quick, facile and glib on camera. He stumbles, halters, stutters and indicates that he is about to avoid the truth, evade the question and clumsily try to change the subject.
He is a rotten liar. He has no talent for it. Unlike a fabulous fabulizer like Gabriel Garcia Marquez there is neither magic nor realism in his fiction. Sorry to say, nor is there any art.
So where is the “not unkind” thing I want to share? Fair question. I’ll keep my promise. First, let me tell you why I want to cut him just the smallest amount of slack. Ironic though it is that he wrote (or caused to be written) the memos redefining torture, if I oppose torturing Al Qaeda fighters (and I do. I’m okay with killing them, but not torturing them) I cannot in good conscience torture poor inept Alberto.
He is being vilified and pilloried by both the Right and Left for his comment that his “worst day as Attorney General was better than his father’s best day” doing hard labor. Left and Right seem to agree that this is wrong and demeaning, another clumsy piece of incompetent expression and further proof of his intellectual and emotional unfitness. George Will argues that his father must have had some wonderful days—and cites the births of his nine children. Hmmm? Nine? Maybe not the births so much as the acts leading to conception were the high points Will should have referenced.
My cogent and well-reasoned response to both Left and Right is: Oh please!
We all know what he meant. He was neither putting his father down nor wallowing in self-pity. I thought he had a fairly solid sense of proportion. He was saying that the verbal slings and arrows of his white collar high status job did not compare unfavorably with the long hours of physical labor, the miserable working conditions and the lousy pay that his father endured.
He did enough real harm to earn stern rebuke. Attacking him on that single statement is to show no good will at all and is without either mercy or compassion. Frankly, we’re better than that.
An excellent piece! Citing "magical realism", (albeit in a work by Castro's favorite author), the excellent point made re the attack on Gonzales' statement about his father and calling for a little mercy were all excellent touches. I would, however, be less categorical re opposition to "torture" as the definition is far too loose and we need all the weaponry we can muster, within reason.
Bravo, Jonathan! I thought George Will needed to loosen his bowtie after I read that one.
Regarding torture, I would be in favor of plucking out the shoe-polished strands of Osama's new high 'n' tight beard one by one...
Yes! When I read Will's column something in the back of my mind said this comment deliberately distorts his point. Thanks, Janathan, for pinpointing the cause of my discomfort.
Excellent comment, Jonathan! Again you've hit the nail on the head. I concur 100%! Why is it all the others cannot see or hear correctly ...... shame.
He was a pawn in a very high place responsible for some very bad decisions. His replacement is not likely to be any better. How can the Department of Justice be considered a separate arm of government when the head of it is one of the president's personal lawyers? Of course you are right about the misplaced focus on Gonzales's comment about his dad. Just a distraction from the real problem.
As a woman, the thought of 8 or 9 kids in an impoverished household is a miserable thought. If it were so wonderful, why did the Irish leave Ireland to come here? Not to mention what it does to the body -- if even Britney is slammed for her physique after 2 kids, and she works out a lot more than the average, let alone poor, mom of NINE, Alberto's mother must have had her own problems.
Like a prolapsed uterus and other gravity-pulled parts I won't mention. Candidate for reconstructive surgery, if she could have afforded it. But of course, in that milieu, caring about your body would be "selfish."
But just shows, that with 8 siblings in the family, poor Alberto never had a chance to hone his verbal skills. Maybe he seemed smart compared to the other 8, and amidst such family dialogue as: "Anyone have a pair of pants without a hole in them?" (Sorry.)
Nice post, Jonathan. Back when I commented on the Will column, I noted that he may have been overly literal, but that his broader point had merit. Reading your take, though, makes me realize that I was too uncharitable in my own interpretation of Gonzales' comment. My apologies to Gonzo, and thanks to you for your correction.