Should matter, but won't.

We've seen it before. Like the time that scientists (especially Nobel recipients) came out in support of Kerry. Like the time retired military top brass came out in support of Kerry. Now we've got a dozen retired military officials opposing the confirmation of Alberto "Torture Memo" Gonzales. Sadly, the GOP will use the same word they've used the last four years-- obstructionist-- if any Dems mount a fight. Never mind that Repubs blocked tons of Clinton's moderate judicial nominees, and Dems have been (Grrrrr.....) quite pliant in approving W's extremists.

Here's an excerpt from the WaPo story linked to above:

"A dozen high-ranking retired military officers took the unusual step yesterday of signing a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee expressing "deep concern" over the nomination of White House counsel Alberto R. Gonzales as attorney general, marking a rare military foray into the debate over a civilian post. The group includes retired Army Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The officers are one of several groups to separately urge the Senate to sharply question Gonzales during a confirmation hearing Thursday about his role in shaping legal policies on torture and interrogation methods. . . .

The letter signed by the retired officers, compiled by the group Human Rights First and sent to the committee's leadership last night, criticizes Gonzales for his role in reviewing and approving a series of memorandums arguing, among other things, that the United States could lawfully ignore portions of the Geneva Conventions and that some forms of torture "may be justified" in the war on terror. "Today, it is clear that these operations have fostered greater animosity toward the United States, undermined our intelligence gathering efforts and added to the risks facing our troops serving around the world," the officers wrote, referring to the Bush administration's detention and interrogation policies. . . .

In addition to Shalikashvili, other prominent signatories to the letter include retired Marine Gen. Joseph P. Hoar, former chief of the Central Command; former Air Force Chief of Staff Merrill A. McPeak; and Lt. Gen. Claudia J. Kennedy, the Army's first female three-star general."