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Senator Ken Salazar last week urged Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign after a strange and prolonged silence on the matter.
Yesterday Colorado’s other Senator, Republican Wayne Allard, opened up about his thoughts on Gonzales. Inexplicably, Allard doesn’t actually have an opinion on the matter. As The Pueblo Chieftain reports:
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Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., is sticking with President Bush on the future of embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales – even as Gonzales is likely to face a “no confidence” vote from Senate Democrats over the Justice Department’s firing of eight U.S. attorneys last year.
“While at times I’ve been disappointed in the attorney general, here is the problem: How do we get anyone confirmed (to replace him) for that position,” Allard said in a telephone press conference Monday. “I don’t see any alternative, so I’m going to stick with the president. Whatever his position is, I’ll be supportive of that.”
How can you be a U.S. Senator and take a stand like that on an issue that is this big of a story? There is ample reason to think that Gonzales should be booted out, and it certainly wouldn’t be hard to make that case. But if you think Gonzales should stay, perhaps because you believe there is no concrete evidence to prove his involvement in the firing of several U.S. Attorneys, then you’re entitled to that opinion as well.
This isn’t like going to the department store to pick out curtains for your living room. You can’t be Colorado’s senior elected official and excuse yourself with, Whatever you say, honey!
Allard has a right to his opinion, but it’s a damn shame that he doesn’t bother to have an opinion at all on one of the highest-profile issues in the country right now. It’s a good thing Allard is retiring rather than run for re-election, because he doesn’t deserve to be a leader in Colorado if he can’t even pick a side here.