Setting aside the torture memos

Part 2 on what else is wrong with having Alberto Gonzales for Attorney General.

From Daily Kos:

Gonzales is "inextricably tied" to Enron, casting doubt on his ability to impartially handle the biggest corporate fraud in history. As the described in the press even now:

Gonzales also has connections to scandal-ridden energy giant Enron. He is a former partner in the Houston law firm Vinson and Elkins, which represented Enron. He also received $6,500 in campaign contributions from the company when he ran for re-election to the Texas Supreme Court.

Indeed, Gonzales got rich off of Enron as a corporate partner at Vinson & Elkins, which is the law firm that was sued for crafting these deals.

Remember, the federal government's case against Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling is still ongoing. Gonzales owes his fortune and much of his early political future to Ken Lay, so making him the nation's top law enforcement officer while the federal government prosecutes Lay presents an obvious conflict of interest. Also, we cannot trust the investigation and enforcement of rules against the future "Enrons" to a corporate lawyer who was possibly contributed to the Enron debacle in the first place.

Of course, there's also the crap while he was then-Governor Bush's lawyer in Texas.

As fallout always does, this stuff spreads....

E-mails have been pouring into Ken Salazar's old digs at the Colorado Attorney General's Office. Many are from supporters sending congratulations and good wishes.

But others express dismay.

The writers are wondering what on earth the Democratic senator is doing buddying up to the likes of Alberto Gonzales. Is this the first sign of a Ben Nighthorse Campbell-style defection to the Republican ranks after using the Democratic Party to get elected?

After all, when Salazar introduced President Bush's nominee for U.S. attorney general - a guy opposed by retired generals, veterans groups, civil rights organizations, even the Mexican American Political Association - it was one of his very first official acts as a senator.

[...]

Sure, Gonzales would be the first Latino to head Justice. But this guy brings plenty of smelly baggage to the job.

Among other things, he was a partner in the Texas law firm that represented Enron and Halliburton, both under federal investigation. He said he "spent hours grilling" Bernard Kerik and recommended him for secretary of homeland security.

[...]

So what does Salazar see in this guy?

"I'm particularly moved by his historical upbringing," the senator said, "the fact that he came from a place with 11 in his family all cramped into two rooms, his father with only a second-grade education." He went on to graduate from Harvard Law School, to become a justice on the Texas Supreme Court, to advise the president. Salazar said he was impressed with "the fact he's overcome those kinds of very significant obstacles to become a successful lawyer."

  Denver Post article

Doesn't matter what character of lawyer - just that he got to be one. Doesn't matter how he succeeded (I don't know - but I do know that his success in the past decade has been in being a "yes man" to George Bush) - just that he got so far up the ladder.