EDITORIAL - The biggest thorn on the side of the president

Certain lawyers groups are seeking the disbarment of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales. One would not be surprised, though, if these lawyers belong to that side of the political fence that has been seeking the ouster of President Arroyo, the immediate boss of Gonzales.

Be that as it may, not all the political color in the world can taint with bias the accusation that Gonzales is obnoxious and makes you want to puke because he really is. The man has been prejudging a lot of issues, many of which could end up on his desk for disposition.

If Gonzales thinks his being a blind and rabid (reminds one of a bat) supporter of the president is helping her cause any, then one can only be dismayed by the quality of his thinking. Gonzales is not fit to be a justice secretary.

That is, of course, unless the president has other uses for Gonzales other than as a real honest-to-goodness justice secretary. A justice secretary, aside from intelligence and integrity, must also be circumspect. If he has any of such attributes, he seems very sparing with them.

Level-headed people, those who are not tainted by any political color, see Gonzales as the single biggest thorn on the side of the president. So, the longer she keeps him, the greater the suspicion that she is up to no good with him.

However, we do not go along with the notion that Gonzales should be disbarred. For if the truth be told, some of the antics of Gonzales are no different from what any other lawyer would do under similar circumstances.

To seek the disbarment of Gonzales is to indict him of a conduct that makes other lawyers just as open to disbarment. The better thing to do is just to strip him of his Cabinet position and send him back to the practice of law.

There, the lawyers who hate his guts can pounce on him and he can pounce back on them. They can fight as dirty as they care, with no public interest involved. At least it will be an entertaining sidelight to this whole circus.