I Can't Recall

By now, most of you have either watched or read or heard about Atty. General Alberto Gonzalez' testimony to the Senate over the attorney firings (the latest scandal in an administration where scandals appear to be used to cover up scandals) and his role in regards to them. He claimed that he was in charge but didn't have a particular role in the firings. In light of the emails that Congress originally got and the possibly (up to 5 million) emails deleted on private RNC accounts, there appears to be more here than meets the eye by any standard. The most telling is one phrase that seemed to sum up Gonzalez' testimony, and his alleged inability to recall details - I can't recall.

"I can't recall" by said by Gonzalez over 70 times in the course of his testimony over events that happened as recently as six months ago. Over 70 times? This guy is the top federal judicial official in the U.S. and he claims he doesn't know what's going on in his own department. By the end of his testimony, little was revealed and Gonzalez managed to alienate both sides of our one party system (with several Republican Senators wanting his fired as a result). This was what he spent several weeks practicing? What the fuck?

Like many people, I think he was covering for soemone. It doesn't take Stephen Hawking to realize that one doesn't keep his job at such a position without knowing something about what's going down. Whether he's the fall guy for Rove or Cheney or Bush himself may be uncertain, but something's up in the White House that needs to be known.

However, in an administration where scandals come fast and furious, it's an uphill battle to get any information, especially for the media. From the attorney scandal to the Walter Reed hospital scandal to the war itself, Bush and company seem to be in backlash mode, trying to cover their tracks while attacking those who want to know what's going on. Add to this the returning blowback of the possible coverup regarding the death of Pat Tillman and things get strange. Sometimes it really appears, like i mentioned earlier, that they seem to create scandals to cover up the previous scandals.

Still, we have to give Alberto credit for popularizing a new catch phrase. Thanks to Alberto, everybody who screws up at their job is going to say "I can't recall" when called on it. It's a good thing Gonzalez isn't a doctor or a surgeon, that would really be scary. As for his testimony, how the hell can this guy not know what was going on? What does he actually know? Where would it lead?

We may never know the answers to that. However, here's hoping we find out before it's too late.