by Will Durst
I’m afraid it is my duty to impart some bad news,
people and I advise you all to sit down before you
fall down. The Attorney General of the United States
apparently is suffering from a horrible disease. Best
case scenario is we’re talking a tertiary case of
situational amnesia here. And for a lawyer, that can’t
be good. In his recent appearance before the Senate
Judiciary Committee, Alberto Gonzales was unable to
recall anything…45 times. And that was before lunch.
Maybe it’s simply a case of hypoglycemia, since after
lunch, he only couldn’t recollect 29 times. I don’t
mean to minimize the critical nature of this crisis
but the solution seems obvious to me: between meal
snacks.
The scary part is, as head of the Justice Department,
Gonzales is ostensibly the country’s top lawyer,
although after this performance, I doubt if he’s
destined to be the top lawyer on the Greyhound he’ll
soon be riding back to Texas. Hey, he’s the guy who
said “the moment I believe I can no longer be
effective, I will resign as Attorney General,” and
right about now even his staunchest supporters have to
be ordering mylar balloons delivered to the D of J
with “don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the
way out” stenciled on them.
When asked about the decision to fire 8 federal
prosecutors, Gonzales insisted he wasn’t involved,
then after e-mails about meetings he attended were
released, okay, maybe he was involved. But just a
little. Microscopically. An eensy teensy teeny wee
bit of a tad. He did admit to making the decision to
fire the US Attorneys but couldn’t remember when he
made the decision. Seems to be a perennial theme with
this Administration. “Had absolutely nothing to do
with it. Oh, you have evidence? Nope. Sorry. Can’t
remember. Its all a blur.”
At the hearing, Senators accused Bush's torture
champion of being dishonest, deceitful, incompetent,
evasive, inept, underhanded, misleading, smelling like
rancid olive loaf and looking like he’s wearing his
father’s burial suit. Not to mention scaring small
children with a high squeaky voice that over broadcast
airwaves has been known to activate smoke alarms, lawn
sprinklers and TIVO recordings of Gladiator movies.
And those were the Republicans. With friends like
these, who needs Democrats?
In a show of solidarity the President assured the country that the Attorney General had his full confidence. “Doing a heckuva job, Alberto.” Actually talked about how pleased he was with Gonzales’s performance even though a staffer conceded he had not seen any of the testimony. I’m thinking the main reason he’s supporting him is because “Attorney General” and “Alberto Gonzales” have the same initials and its the only way he can remember who’s filling the position.
The low point may have been when Gonzales attempted to explain away the personnel changes as sometimes coming down to just not the right people at the right time, and South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham asked “If I applied that standard to you, what would you say?" And the entire room erupted into laughter. And you know what, that can’t be good either. For him or for us.
Comic, writer, actor, former radio talk show host and oyster shucker, Will Durst has oil slicks in his memory as well.
Catch Durst at a benefit for the Haight Ashbury Medical Clinic at the Make Out Room in San Francisco on Monday April 23rd: at DC’s Funniest Radio Personality at the DC Improv on Wednesday April 25th, and The Comic Press New’s 16th Anniversary Benefit at Marilyn’s in Sacramento on Thursday April 26th. Or the Listen to his twice weekly commentaries @audible.com/willdurst.
will durst wing commander durstco "you want the best, so do we" 2107 van ness ave suite 402 san francisco 94109 877 SATIRIST service 415 441 3669 office 415 298 1874 cell This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it willdurst.com
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Tuesday, 24 April 2007


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