# In 2004, Gonzalez (as WH counsel) & DOJ targeted Edwards contributors **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 14, 2007, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2004-gonzalez-as-wh-counsel-doj-targeted-edwards-contributors/422700 "2007-10-14T18:40:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2004-gonzalez-as-wh-counsel-doj-targeted-edwards-contributors/422700/21 "2007-10-15T18:08:04Z")
[QUOTE=Hung Mung] I emphasize that because I believe that _he_ believes we really deserve all this bullshit. [/QUOTE] Maybe Bush is a fan of: > [@H.L. Mencken](#): > > Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2004-gonzalez-as-wh-counsel-doj-targeted-edwards-contributors/422700/22 "2007-10-15T18:18:08Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] I’d just like to say I have confidence in the FEC to handle these things as an institution [/QUOTE] Isn’t the FEC renowned for its ineffectuality? Or do I misremember? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2004-gonzalez-as-wh-counsel-doj-targeted-edwards-contributors/422700/23 "2007-10-15T18:40:31Z")
My biggest complaint with the FEC is that decisions usually are slow in coming, and the laws they have to enforce are often poorly thought. I have no beef with their fairness. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2004-gonzalez-as-wh-counsel-doj-targeted-edwards-contributors/422700/24 "2007-10-15T18:43:44Z")
Even when its chairman was Chief Counsel to the Republican National Committee, and prior to that served as General Counsel of the Bush-Cheney Transition Team and General Counsel of the Bush-Cheney 2000 Presidential Campaign? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2004-gonzalez-as-wh-counsel-doj-targeted-edwards-contributors/422700/25 "2007-10-15T20:28:36Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] My biggest complaint with the FEC is that decisions usually are slow in coming, and the laws they have to enforce are often poorly thought. I have no beef with their fairness. [/QUOTE] I made no reference to their fairness, just their ineffectuality. That their decisions have been “slow in coming,” as you say, has been at the heart of that: if the FEC decides in late 2009 that a candidate for office in 2008 stepped over the line, it has no effect on the race: by then, s/he’s either won or lost, and the campaign as a legal entity may well have closed up shop. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2004-gonzalez-as-wh-counsel-doj-targeted-edwards-contributors/422700/26 "2007-10-15T21:22:49Z")
[QUOTE=BobLibDem] Even when its chairman was Chief Counsel to the Republican National Committee, and prior to that served as General Counsel of the Bush-Cheney Transition Team and General Counsel of the Bush-Cheney 2000 Presidential Campaign? [/QUOTE] Well, their current chairman is a union attorney. Do you see me complaining? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2004-gonzalez-as-wh-counsel-doj-targeted-edwards-contributors/422700/27 "2007-10-16T01:29:18Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] Well, their current chairman is a union attorney. Do you see me complaining? [/QUOTE] Since corporations and unions are often regarded as opposites, you’d be opening up a lot of ground if you did. You’d disqualify most of Bushworld from just about everything. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2004-gonzalez-as-wh-counsel-doj-targeted-edwards-contributors/422700/28 "2007-10-16T08:59:45Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] Well, their current chairman is a union attorney. Do you see me complaining? [/QUOTE] IIRC, Bush 1.0 was a union member and flashed his union card at some campaign stump in '88. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2004-gonzalez-as-wh-counsel-doj-targeted-edwards-contributors/422700/29 "2007-10-16T19:54:45Z")
The International Brotherhood of Spies, Spooks, and Covert Operatives, local 447, right? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2004-gonzalez-as-wh-counsel-doj-targeted-edwards-contributors/422700/30 "2007-10-16T20:05:24Z")
[QUOTE=kaylasdad99] The International Brotherhood of Spies, Spooks, and Covert Operatives, local 447, right? [/QUOTE] Heh. No, I think it was something like the machinist’s union or oil workers union. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2007, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2004-gonzalez-as-wh-counsel-doj-targeted-edwards-contributors/422700/31 "2007-10-16T20:07:29Z")
Rich, pampered yuppie scum have a union? Who gnu? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2004-gonzalez-as-wh-counsel-doj-targeted-edwards-contributors/422700/32 "2007-10-17T00:28:03Z")
Might have been. But I think you might be remembering Cheney, who mentions his membership in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2004-gonzalez-as-wh-counsel-doj-targeted-edwards-contributors/422700/33 "2007-10-17T13:57:05Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] Might have been. But I think you might be remembering Cheney, who mentions his membership in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers from time to time. [/QUOTE] Of course. CHENEY IN 2000: “It’s alive! It’s alive!” ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2004-gonzalez-as-wh-counsel-doj-targeted-edwards-contributors/422700/34 "2007-10-17T14:04:20Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] Might have been. But I think you might be remembering Cheney, who mentions his membership in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers from time to time. [/QUOTE] No, Cheney _wasn’t_ running in 1988. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2004-gonzalez-as-wh-counsel-doj-targeted-edwards-contributors/422700/35 "2007-10-17T16:31:14Z")
[My mistake. Turns out more of our candidates have been union members than I remembered.](http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE7DA1439F934A3575AC0A96E948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print) > [@](#): > > ‘‘How many guys running for President of the United States has been a member of the C.I.O. steelworkers?’’ Mr. Bush asked. ‘‘You are looking at one. So don’t listen to all this Dukakis stuff - they are on the ropes and they have got to make all this noise.’’ > > Sheila Tate, Mr. Bush’s press secretary, said the Vice President was a union member in 1950 when he was working in the oil business in California. > > The union card later provided by the Bush campaign read: ‘‘United Steelworkers of America: This is to certify that L.U. 2470 George HW Bush is paying his dues during 1950 and is entitled to all the benefits of and privileges provided by the United Steelworkers of America.’’ ‘We Are Not Afraid’ ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2004-gonzalez-as-wh-counsel-doj-targeted-edwards-contributors/422700/36 "2007-10-18T00:33:30Z")
Meh, I was union briefly when I worked for A&P. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2004-gonzalez-as-wh-counsel-doj-targeted-edwards-contributors/422700/37 "2007-10-18T01:03:56Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] Rich, pampered yuppie scum have a union? Who gnu? [/QUOTE] Yup. Their demi-god, aka, Ronnie “bonzo” Reagan was one, too. I heard something on NPR today that took me aback. Unfortunately, it was not a direct quote, so I have NO idea if the veracity of it. A reporter on All Things Considered did a bit on the press conference that Bush gave today. He was asked about the possibility of Putin retaining his power. They cut to Bush speaking, and then the reporter said that Bush has also “joked” about his remaining in power. But again, I dont’ have a cite or a quote. In fact, for the past 2 weeks, I’ve been on a news “break”. Anyone know what this refers to? And for the record: no President should joke about that. I found it iin the worst on taste (if it indeed happened). I have to say that most GOPers I know (here and in RL) are flunking the smell test (aka the Clinton test) big time. The shit that goes down that is explained away, dismissed, denied, and ignored amazes me. No Democratic President would be able to get away with it. Like Bush’s statement that we don’t torture today. BS. You can play semantic games to appease your conscience, but the poor treatment and torture of prisoners in and out of Guantonamo and Abu Graib and the like are doing MORE to fuel terrorism than anything else. The disingenousness of it all sickens me. Take back your party, GOPers–we need decent Republicans. \ ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2004-gonzalez-as-wh-counsel-doj-targeted-edwards-contributors/422700/38 "2007-10-18T01:07:06Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] No, Cheney _wasn’t_ running in 1988. [/QUOTE] But his pacemaker was! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2004-gonzalez-as-wh-counsel-doj-targeted-edwards-contributors/422700/39 "2007-10-18T02:33:54Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] Yup. Their demi-god, aka, Ronnie “bonzo” Reagan was one, too. I heard something on NPR today that took me aback. Unfortunately, it was not a direct quote, so I have NO idea if the veracity of it. A reporter on All Things Considered did a bit on the press conference that Bush gave today. He was asked about the possibility of Putin retaining his power. They cut to Bush speaking, and then the reporter said that Bush has also “joked” about his remaining in power. But again, I dont’ have a cite or a quote. In fact, for the past 2 weeks, I’ve been on a news “break”. Anyone know what this refers to? And for the record: no President should joke about that. I found it iin the worst on taste (if it indeed happened). [/QUOTE] I’ve not heard the segment on NPR (and likely will not). But it _could_ be a reference to a quip he made in November of 2000, while the country was trying to get its electoral ducks in a row. An interviewer mentioned the complexity of the problem, and he responded with (paraphrased), “It would be a whole lot easier if this was a dictatorship. Just so long as I was the dictator.” _Smirk. Breathy, uncomfortable, “laughing-at-one’s-own-joke” laugh._ ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2004-gonzalez-as-wh-counsel-doj-targeted-edwards-contributors/422700/40 "2007-10-18T09:31:14Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] I heard something on NPR today that took me aback. Unfortunately, it was not a direct quote, so I have NO idea if the veracity of it. A reporter on All Things Considered did a bit on the press conference that Bush gave today. He was asked about the possibility of Putin retaining his power. They cut to Bush speaking, and then the reporter said that Bush has also “joked” about his remaining in power. [/QUOTE] I heard the NPR news story, too, and it chilled me for a bit, then I thought: These guys _can’t_ control Iraq and Afghanistan, two countries which combined are smaller than the US and have fewer people in them, they can’t fix New Orleans, and inspite of all _that_ think they’d be able to successfully turn America (with it’s imploding housing market and population disgruntled over the war) into a dictatorship with Shrub at the helm? Ye gads! Do _they_ have a rude awakening coming! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2004-gonzalez-as-wh-counsel-doj-targeted-edwards-contributors/422700.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-2004-gonzalez-as-wh-counsel-doj-targeted-edwards-contributors/422700.md?page=3)