My heart breaks reading this NY Times article about former attorney general Alberto Gonzales and his inability to find a job in the private sector. Gee, maybe that's the natural result of having revealed yourself to be a liar and a sycophant who will construct any legal argument, no matter how transparent or absurd, that serves the needs of your paymaster. On the other hand, since when is that an impediment to work in any major law firm?
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Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of Michigan Citizens for Science and co-founder of The Panda's Thumb. He has written for such publications as The Bard, Skeptic and Reports of the National Center for Science Education, spoken in front of many organizations and conferences, and appeared on nationally syndicated radio shows and on C-SPAN. Ed is also a Fellow with the Center for Independent Media and the host of Declaring Independence, a one hour weekly political talk show on WPRR in Grand Rapids, Michigan.(static)
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Crying Crocodile Tears
Posted on: April 16, 2008 9:16 AM, by Ed Brayton
Comments
Posted by: Tegumai Bopsulai, FCD | April 16, 2008 9:43 AM
I'd think Gonzo would be a natural fit on Fox Snooze. Maybe as Evangelist of Factiness? Chancellor of Divination?
Posted by: Rose Colored Glasses | April 16, 2008 10:29 AM
More likely, it's the natural consequence have having proven oneself to be an incompetent manager and a very poor attorney.
Posted by: AnneS | April 16, 2008 10:44 AM
I think Robert H. Bork, Jr., is Judge Bork's son.
Posted by: Kenneth Fair | April 16, 2008 1:02 PM
They aren't really. What I suspect is the impediment is that he got CAUGHT lying, in a very public manner. Is that a cardinal sin in the lawyer biz?
Posted by: Mobius | April 16, 2008 1:57 PM
My wife (we're newlywed) is a lawyer and has been educating me about what 'goes' in law. Lying in court is a disbarrable offense for a lawyer. Letting a client lie is also disbarrable*.
It's also somewhere between bad and disbarrable to offer specious legal 'arguments'. To be a legal argument, it has to be based in law. Gonzalez' argument that the Geneva Conventions had been 'rendered quaint' was not a legal argument at all since there is no such legal principle as rendered quaint. (This one had her sputtering. There were, perhaps, legal arguments that could have been raised. But Gonzalez, translating to the science world, was 'not even wrong' in raising that one.)
*Some were surprised that Kent Hovind didn't take the stand in his trial. My inference is that his lawyer knew what Kent intended to say and couldn't let him on the stand because of the lies which were planned.
Posted by: penguindreams | April 16, 2008 2:08 PM
Truthfully, I was surprised to hear this.
I thought for sure that Bush would have made a few calls to his Texas pals to get Gonzo a cushy, high-paying job immediately after he left DC.
But perhaps as Bush's term in office is drying up, his connections are as well.
Posted by: CHV | April 16, 2008 6:44 PM
Oh, but Gonzales isn't really part of the "club", he's the son of Mexican migrant workers. I don't know if the connections he gathered in law school and after would be enough to make up for that disadvantage in qualifying for strings to be pulled on his behalf. (So much for lionization of "self-made men".)
Posted by: Vasha | April 16, 2008 7:25 PM
I imagine that pretty soon we'll see a new firm formed: Gonzalez and Yoo. Paralegals (due to their disabarment) will be L. Libby and K. Nifong.
Posted by: Bill Poser | April 17, 2008 1:09 AM
Is the wingnut welfare system really in such shambles that it can't take care of such an obviously qualified recipient? Won't somebody please THINK of the CHILDREN?
Posted by: Troublesome Frog | April 17, 2008 1:25 AM
It's clearly because his memory is so poor. Who can hire a lawyer who can't remember whether he was at a meeting where important decisions were made?
Posted by: Daniel Kim | April 18, 2008 9:15 AM