Canned Reply from Senator Chambliss...

Well I received one response so far from my letters to the Senators, from Saxby Chambliss, Republican from Georgia.

"Dear Mr. Evans:

Thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding the President's nomination of Judge Alberto Gonzales to serve as Attorney General and your concerns about illegal immigration. I appreciate hearing from you.

Judge Gonzales has an impressive background that makes him an excellent nominee for the position of Attorney General. In his most recent capacity, Judge Gonzales served as Counsel to President Bush. Prior to his service at the White House, Judge Gonzales served for then Governor George W. Bush as Texas' 100th Secretary of State and then as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas.

Among Judge Gonzales' other professional positions, he was elected to the American Law Institute, served as a board trustee of the Texas Bar Foundation, was a board director for the State Bar of Texas, and was President of the Houston Hispanic Bar Association.

Judge Gonzales has received many honors, including induction into the Hispanic Scholarship Fund Alumni Hall of Fame and receipt of the Good Neighbor Award from the United States-Mexico Chamber of Commerce. He further was recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus of Rice University and was honored by the Harvard Law School Association.

I have no doubt that with Judge Gonzales' impressive background he will be objective and fair as Attorney General. I stand behind the President's decision to nominate Judge Gonzales to the position of Attorney General, and I intend to vote in favor of his nomination.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact me as always I appreciate hearing from you. In the meantime, if you would like to receive timely email alerts regarding the latest congressional actions and my weekly e-newsletter, please sign up via my web site at:

www.chambliss.senate.gov.

Sincerely,

Saxby Chambliss

United States Senate"

Naturally, I made no reference to illegal immigrants in my letter, and another person received the exact same response. It's a pity politician's value our input so much, yet they cannot even be bothered to read the letters they receive. I wrote back of course, but I will likely receive the exact same letter again!

"Thank you for the reply Senator Chambliss.

I understand he is a highly "decorated" man. Unfortunately, even the most highly regarded person could very well be inherently evil. If justifying torture and the mistreatment of prisoners is what the Attorney General does, then he will indeed be an excellent candidate!

Yours respectfully,

Glyn (ZaPhOd) Evans

http://minipainting-guild.net"

*** UPDATED ***

Well I did not receive anythign further from Senator Chambliss, but I did receive a response from Senator Harkin. His response is also a "canned" response but more sensible I think. Remember these folks likely get 1000000 letters a day, so it is no wonder they send generic mails.

An excerpt of his mail respons is here:

"Mr. Gonzales currently serves as the White House Counsel, the top legal advisor to the President. As White House Counsel, he was involved in the decision making regarding the policies that permitted torture of suspected terrorists, and that likely led to the abuses at Abu Ghraib. His confirmation hearing in the Senate was the first time he was asked publicly to account for his role in development of these policies. I am currently reviewing Mr. Gonzales answers to these questions.

The Attorney General is the chief law enforcement officer of the Federal government and is responsible for upholding the rule of law. I will be closely examining Mr. Gonzales' responses on these issues before deciding whether I believe he is qualified to be the Attorney General. Your views are important to me. Please be assured that as the Senate proceeds through the nomination process I will carefully consider your advice and input."

It's good to see some folks are actually considering all aspects of this, and not blindly following some political agenda.

Hmmm. Another response just in from Senator George Allen...

"Dear Mr Evans:

Thank you for contacting me regarding President Bush’s nomination of Alberto Gonzales to become the next Attorney General of the United States.

I appreciate your concerns and value to opportunity to respond.

I applaud President Bush’s nomination of Alberto Gonzalez. He is the embodiment of the American dream, a man whose hard work, legal sense and intellect have already lifted him to some of the highest positions of trust in our nation. I look forward to his confirmation hearings and a fair vote before the U.S. Senate. I am confident that he will make an outstanding U.S. Attorney General."

The "embodiment of the American dream"????? Wow. This guy has lost his sense of reality...