Saturday, April 21st, 2007...5:03 pm
If Jon Kyl Asked a Question, and No One Reported It…
I’ve been asking around because I haven’t been able to figure out why Jon Kyl’s questions to Alberto Gonzales have been virtually unreported by either the local or national media. It’s strange, both because we kept hearing in the last campaign about how valuable Kyl is because of his high profile on committees like Judiciary, and because he made such a stink a few weeks back about how angry he was about the firing of Paul Charlton.
Well, the reason is very simple: Kyl asked little that was in any way interesting. His questioning went on for a little more than eight and a half minutes, only two and a half minutes was spent on the US attorney firings.
In his first question, he allowed Gonzales to clarify his statement that “improper” would have meant firing to influence a particular case. Kyl suggested to Gonzales that firing to prevent any corruption investigations would have been improper. Gonzales agreed. Well, case closed, right?
This wasn’t even softball…wiffle ball…heck, tee ball.
He also asked about victim’s right’s programs, but the lion’s share of the questioning, nearly five and a half minutes, was spent on the pressing issue of um…internet gaming.
I’ve uploaded the video here. Check it out for yourself. It’s better than Sominex.
3 Comments
April 22nd, 2007 at 8:37 am
Jon Kyl is the walking example of the phrase “go along to get along.” That is why he has risen in the Senate GOP leadership. His personality and style is perfect for the Senate, at least in terms of how Senators prefer to interact with each other. He will never be one to take a stand if it risks offending the majority of his caucus or its leaders. He is, at his core, a “good soldier.”
I would never describe Kyl as visionary, bold or dynamic. He is not a leader capable of inspiring others and he is not known for original thought. To my way of thinking, he is too conservative and unwilling to speak truth to power when that power is wielded by his friends or allies. However, I prefer him to our other senator, who has busily tried to be all things to all people during his years in politics. With Kyl, at least I know what I am getting.
April 22nd, 2007 at 2:01 pm
To be honest, I think Kyl knows that what Gonzales did was wrong, particularly in relation to Paul Charlton, and Kyl also probably knows that the whole situation reaches up to the very top - although whether that is just Rove or also Cheney or Bush, it is hard to say.
Unfortunately, if Kyl actually goes after the AG, he angers his conservative, Kool-Aid drinking supporters and the White House. But if he actually defends Gonzales, that could backfire if the whole situation eventually leads to indictments or even impeachment.
So instead Kyl lobs a few softball questions and hopes the whole thing will go away. Notice how the local media hasn’t even asked him about this and the Senator’s office certainly isn’t putting out any press releases.
Kyl is clearly trying to stay as far away from this thing as possible. It’s a no win situation for a basically decent person who has spent too much time defending a corrupt administration.
April 22nd, 2007 at 9:09 pm
Well one big problem here is that neither Jon Kyl nor John McCain really WERE mad about the firing of Charlton. It took weeks for him to say anything about the firing of the loyal Republican that he put into this position. He and McCain both advocated for Charlton and when it came time for him to be fired…they said NOTHING. When the *$&% hit the fan, then he came out with the meekest of statements.
I think the lack of questioning might be summed up at his embarassment of having done nothing when one of his own was fired and for not protecting the interests of Arizona.
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