A Damned Liar

America's top lawyer, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, is an out and out liar.

He's such a baldfaced liar that US Senators from both parties aren't reluctant to call him one.

Gonzales' latest lie is that he and White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card weren't really planning on taking advantage of former AG John Ashcroft when they rushed to his hospital room late at night while Ashcroft was recovering from surgery.

This mediocre little thug instead told a senate hearing that he and Card merely wanted to tell Ashcroft of the Congressional leadership's desire that Bush's intelligence-gathering programme not expire the next day.

Gonzales wasn't able to answer why, if the visit was all so innocent, FBI Director Robert Mueller thought it necessary to send agents to Ashcroft's room to prevent Card and Gonzales from keeping Ashcroft's deputy out.

Ranking Republican senator Arlen Specter minced no words about Gonzales' credibility:

Mr. Specter signaled that he did not accept Mr. Gonzales’s explanation about the hospital incident. “What credibility is left for you?” the senator asked at one point.

Mr. Specter has accused Mr. Gonzales before of dodging questions, and he did so again today. At one point, the senator said, “I see it’s hopeless.” At another point, he said acidly, “Let’s see if somewhere, somehow we can find a question that you’ll answer.”