Idaho Dems say they helped oust Gonzales
The big political news nationwide today is the resignation of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, but here in Boise, it’s the Idaho Democrats who are claiming to have helped oust the controversial Bush Administration official.
Wondering how that could be? Well, back in June, Gonzales came to Boise to meet with our U.S. Attorney for Idaho, Tom Moss, and an anti-gang task force. The visit was to include an outdoor press conference, but after more than a hundred protesters toting hand-painted signs with messages like “No more torture and lies” and “FLUSH toilet paper NOT the CONSTITUTION” showed up, the scheduled press conference didn’t start. Somewhat late, it was rescheduled and moved to a secure location – inside the U.S. Attorney’s office, where only members of the press would be admitted. When the announcement came that the Attorney General wouldn’t appear before them, the protesters booed and chanted, “Coward, coward, coward,” according to coverage from reporter Jill Kuraitis of New West.net (that’s her photo of the event).
Today, Idaho Democratic Chairman Richard Stallings issued a news release congratulating the protesters. “Alberto Gonzales wanted to come to Idaho and grab some sugar-coated headlines, but it didn’t work,” Stallings said. “The Attorney General and the Bush Administration learned this summer that Idahoans will not stand for the unlawful abuse of power.” Stallings did acknowledge that “it’s obvious that the Idahoans who came out on June 26 cannot take all the credit for Gonzales’ departure,” but he added, “his visit to Idaho – one of the most conservative states in the country – surely resonated deeply into the Bush Administration’s public relations machine.”
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