LET'S SEE IF THEY'VE LEARNED ANYTHING:

Bush's Rise Has Carried Gonzales Along (JENNIFER LOVEN, November 10, 2004, Associated Press)

Alberto Gonzales, known in White House corridors as "The Judge," has seen his fortunes track with George W. Bush's for more than a decade.

As the president said Wednesday in announcing Gonzales as his pick to succeed Attorney General John Ashcroft, "I am very grateful he keeps saying `Yes.'"

The 49-year-old Gonzales has been at Bush's side on and off for almost a decade, chosen by Bush for five high-profile jobs.

It started in 1995 when the then-Texas governor made Gonzales his chief counsel. Gonzales was a corporate lawyer, one of the first two minorities to become a partner in one of the state's largest firms.

Two years later, Bush picked the Harvard-educated son of migrant farm workers to be Texas' secretary of state, the state's top elections official. In 1999, Bush appointed Gonzales to the state Supreme Court.

When Bush moved to the Oval Office in 2001, Gonzales came along as the top lawyer at the White House. He oversaw legal opinions and the selection of judicial nominees.

Described as quiet but practical and thorough, Gonzales has been one of Bush's most trusted advisers. In fact, there had been intense speculation that Gonzales would be Bush's choice in the event of a vacancy on the Supreme Court.

As White House counsel, Gonzales has been at the center of developing and defending Bush's approach in fighting terrorism. It is an approach that often angered civil liberties and human rights groups and one which opens Gonzales to some of the same criticism that has dogged Ashcroft.

American Civil Liberties Union executive director Anthony Romero pleaded with the Senate to give Gonzales a "thorough thrashing" in scrutinizing his anti-terrorism work, including development of the Patriot Act.

If Mr. Gonzales and Mr. Bush weren't such close friends you'd suspect the President was suckering Democrats into attacking the Patriot Act and other popular measures of the war on terror and a Hispanic to boot.

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 10, 2004 11:50 PM