Gonzales Confirmed!

Alberto Gonzales was confirmed by the Senate today with a 60-36 vote. All the "no" votes came from Democrats, along with IINO Jim Jeffords of Vermont. Those who voted for Gonzales: Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, Ken Salazar of Colorado, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Bill Nelson of Florida, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Mark Pryor of Arkansas.

Some Democrats contended that Gonzales' January 2002 memo as White House counsel led to the abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As I discussed last week, this claim is nonsense.

Pressed on the issue, Gonzales defended language in which he labeled as "quaint" some of the Geneva Conventions' human rights protections for prisoners of war and said they did not extend to al-Qaida and other suspected terrorists.

But he also declared, "Torture and abuse will not be tolerated by this administration." He told senators that, as attorney general, he would "ensure the Department of Justice aggressively pursues those responsible for such abhorrent actions."

Democrats also expressed concern that Gonzales was too much of a Bush loyalist.

Because, you know, it's important for the President to appoint disloyal people to his cabinet.