JACK COWAN: Will West Texas catch Gonzales' falling star?
July 15, 2009
There was a time when Alberto Gonzales, not Sonia Sotomayor, looked like a good bet to become America’s first Hispanic Supreme Court justice.
It was early in George W. Bush’s presidency and Gonzales, who had been Bush’s lawyer when he was Texas governor and later Bush’s appointee to the state Supreme Court, seemed well-positioned as Bush’s White House counsel.
Even in the most conservative part of Republican-ruled Texas, the appointment generated controversy. The Tech student newspaper editorialized against it, and most of the comments out of Lubbock have been negative.
Granted, those who are deeply displeased about something are more inclined to express their views than those who are merely satisfied, but there’s little evidence that many are delighted to have Gonzales in the Tech system.