Gonzales

Tio Pepe is one of those constants in the world of wine. As a nonvintage blend of bone-dry sherry, it doesn't change from year to year. It may not be the greatest fino sherry; it is simply the definitive wine of its type — certainly the best-known dry sherry around the world. Tio Pepe is a pale-colored wine of great complexity and elegance, with hints of almond and very subtle citrus. Its distinguishing feature is a hint of salt water, as though it were meant to be sipped by the sea. If you tasted this wine in your youth and thought it too severe, it's worth retasting to see if your palate has changed.

Same-sex marriage and the Dream Act are supported by a majority of Marylanders, but voters are just about evenly split on gambling expansion, according to a new independent poll released Wednesday. Supporters of the Dream Act are furthest ahead, with 58 percent of respondents saying they would support it, according to the survey by Gonzales Research & Marketing Strategies. Only 34 percent opposed. The law would allow some illegal immigrants to pay lower, in-state tuition at Maryland colleges and universities.

On May 13, 2005, BERINGO GONZALES; husband of the late Rosette Etta (nee Boles) Gonzales; father of Ricardo B., Andrew D. and Carmen L. Gonzales and Dena R. O'Brien. Also survived by 18 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren and pre-deceased by one great-grandchild. Friends may call at the ELINE FUNERAL HOME, 11824 Reisterstown Road (at Franklin Blvd.), Tuesday, 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. A Mass of Christian Burial, Wednesday 10 A.M. at the Sacred Church of Glyndon. Interment Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery.

Tio Pepe is one of those constants in the world of wine. As a nonvintage blend of bone-dry sherry, it doesn't change from year to year. It may not be the greatest fino sherry; it is simply the definitive wine of its type — certainly the best-known dry sherry around the world. Tio Pepe is a pale-colored wine of great complexity and elegance, with hints of almond and very subtle citrus. Its distinguishing feature is a hint of salt water, as though it were meant to be sipped by the sea. If you tasted this wine in your youth and thought it too severe, it's worth retasting to see if your palate has changed.

WASHINGTON -- Alberto R. Gonzales, the White House counsel in President Bush's first term nominated to be his attorney general in the second term, can anticipate stormy weather tomorrow before the Senate Judiciary Committee considering his confirmation. While Mr. Gonzales is expected to be confirmed in the end, his role as counsel in a series of controversial opinions regarding the treatment of suspected terrorist detainees is certain to invite sharp questioning from Democratic committee members.

On Monday, July 17, 2006, MARYKATHRYN GONZALES, age 81 of Columbia, MD, wife of the late Roger G. "Chick" Gonzales, mother of Walter Gregg Meade, Linda Deichgraber and Debbie Kendall. Also survived by five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Services private. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Anne Arundel County Special Olympics, POB 553, Crownsville, MD, 21032.

If politics is a horse race, then pollster Patrick E. Gonzales risks becoming the 300-pound jockey of Anne Arundel County.After leaving a job two years ago with Mason-Dixon Opinion Research to start his own consulting business, PEG Research, he has ridden two Democratic campaigns into the dirt.Gonzales was first thrown from his mount last year after suiting up as the pollster for Annapolis Mayor Dennis M. Callahan's losing primary bid for re-election.And last week, he never approached the finish line as campaign manager for County Councilman Michael F. Gilligan, who pulled up lame in the primary race for county executive.

WASHINGTON -- Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales said yesterday that there was little he could do about Republican campaign brochures distributed in Maryland on Election Day that Democrats said were designed to mislead African-American voters. But he agreed to meet with Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin to discuss the issue. Cardin, a Democratic candidate in that election, pressed Gonzales on the issue during a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "If there is an effort made to deny minorities full participation in the state of Maryland, you have a responsibility to do something about that," he told Gonzales.

Of the 35 major-league players who weren't tendered contracts this week, it's probable that none will draw as much interest from the Orioles as two of their former players.Technically, Gregg Olson falls into that category, because he is a free agent. The other is Rene Gonzales, an ex-Orioles infielder who became a free agent when the California Angels declined to exercise their option on his contract.Assistant general manager Doug Melvin and Jeff Moorad, the agent who represents the right-hander, reaffirmed yesterday that keeping Olson in Baltimore is a priority.

WASHINGTON -- Internal Bush administration e-mails suggest that Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales might have played a bigger role than he has acknowledged in the plan to fire several U.S. attorneys. The e-mails, delivered to Congress last night, show that Gonzales attended an hourlong meeting on the firings on Nov. 27, 2006 - 10 days before seven U.S. attorneys were told to resign. The attorney general's participation in the session calls into question his assertion that he was essentially in the dark about the firings.

After seven years, the adventurous American Opera Theater is wrapping things up this season. There's a tentative plan to stage Kurt Weill's "Lost in the Stars" in collaboration with the Baltimore School for the Arts in the spring, but the company would be exiting true to form if the current double bill at the Theatre Project turns out to be the swan song. Founding artistic director Timothy Nelson has shown a knack for stretching the envelope in a variety of ways. For this double bill, a co-production with the Handel Choir of Baltimore and Peabody Conservatory, Nelson has paired a baroque gem from 1689, Henry Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas," with a new work by Melissa Dunphy called "The Gonzales Cantata.

Fredi Gonzalez, high on Cubs general manager Jim Hendry's list of managerial candidates, remains the front-runner to replace the Braves' Bobby Cox . … Tony La Russa and Colby Rasmus (above) have a strained relationship, but it's hard to see the Cardinals trading Rasmus if they re-sign La Russa. The interest in him would be huge. … Don't look for the Rays to pass the Yankees, who have been in first place after Labor Day in 41 seasons and failed to hang on to first only twice, in 1906 and 1944.

WASHINGTON - As U.S. attorney general Alberto R. Gonzales and his top deputy, Paul J. McNulty, "abdicated their responsibility" in the 2006 dismissals of nine federal prosecutors, were aloof and uninformed about the process, and offered the public reasons for the firings that were "inconsistent, misleading and or inaccurate," Justice Department investigators concluded yesterday. The authors of the long-awaited report, prepared by the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility, were unable to determine conclusively whether crimes were committed as part of the politically charged firings, and they called for further investigation, particularly into the role of the White House.

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department revealed yesterday that it has reopened an internal investigation into whether department lawyers acted unethically or illegally in connection with the government's warrantless electronic surveillance of terror suspects. The internal probe was suspended last year after President Bush refused to grant security clearances so investigators could interview Justice officials and others about the National Security Agency program. White House officials said then that Bush viewed the request for the clearances as a security risk because it widened the circle of individuals familiar with the highly classified program.

WASHINGTON -- Michael B. Mukasey appeared yesterday to be all but assured of becoming the nation's 81st attorney general when two Senate Democrats broke ranks and said they would support the retired federal judge to head the Justice Department. While acknowledging serious concerns about his views on interrogation techniques, Sens. Dianne Feinstein of California and Charles E. Schumer of New York said they would vote to confirm Mukasey when the Senate Judiciary Committee takes up his nomination to succeed Alberto R. Gonzales on Tuesday.

The nomination of former federal Judge Michael B. Mukasey to replace Alberto R. Gonzales as attorney general has all the signs of a rare conciliatory gesture by President Bush toward congressional Democrats. Both sides should build on this cooperative spirit to finally work out an arrangement by which the administration would provide the documents and testimony necessary to complete a congressional investigation of political abuse of prosecutorial powers during the ill-fated Gonzales regime.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush began the new year with a bipartisan gesture, appointing former Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush to head up a massive aid effort for tsunami victims in South Asia. But congressional Democrats aren't likely to reciprocate. The first test comes Thursday when the president's pick for attorney general, White House counsel Alberto R. Gonzales, faces the Senate Judiciary Committee. When President Bush announced his choice in November, most observers thought Mr. Gonzales would be easily confirmed, but he now faces some stiff opposition.

SAN DIEGO -- When I wrote recently that Alberto R. Gonzales was being unfairly castigated by - among others - white liberals who have long opposed him because they couldn't claim credit for his achievements, some people took offense. How dare I suggest that race had anything to do with this mess, they said - right before they proceeded to charge, sweet as you please, that the only reason I was defending the embattled attorney general is that we're both Hispanic. Just curious: If a white male defends another, have you ever heard someone say it's because they're both white males?

ATLANTA -- It's easy to smear a reputation, and hard to restore it. The U.S. Department of Justice has a long way to go before it can overcome the lapdog legacy of Alberto R. Gonzales. Even if President Bush overcomes his tendency to appoint yes-men (and women) and finds an attorney general with a sterling reputation, it will be years before the department restores morale and regains public confidence. While other government agencies may be blatantly politicized without corroding public trust, the Justice Department is different.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush is preparing to nominate Michael B. Mukasey, a retired federal judge from New York, to succeed Alberto R. Gonzales as U.S. attorney general, people familiar with the president's intentions said yesterday. White House officials began yesterday to distribute background materials on Mukasey to Republican aides on the Senate Judiciary Committee in preparation for confirmation hearings in a month or so, the staff members said. The White House was preparing for an announcement as soon as today.