Reading for the day: In Justice by David Iglesias, concerning the partisan firing of seven (*) U.S. attorneys, which ultimately led to Alberto Gonzalez et. al. to spend more time with their families.
Such a mid-term replacement simply was not done, attempts to change the subject by referencing replacements in between different presidential administrations (Clinton Did It Too!!!). But, an accurate and full understanding of just what occurred, what led to a loyal Republican with a strong faith background (child of missionaries) to be so upset and speak of lawlessness, you have to look at the big picture.
As an NYT article notes:
This summer, the [Justice] department’s inspector general released two scathing reports confirming that for several years administration officials illegally took political affiliation into account when hiring recent law school graduates, summer associates, some assistant prosecutors and immigration judges.
Monica M. Goodling, a former White House liaison at the Justice Department, also admitted she "crossed the line." The article is to be praised for actually underlining that accusations by opponents actually are more than that. It is not just a "they said" deal. Its focus on the actual effects on immigration appeals was more inconclusive, underlining the impropriety of the process sometimes being the worst thing about the current regime. This also might be a matter of the difficulty of translating such things into hard numbers, proving a negative etc.
The article however noted:
The Bush administration has been accused by Democrats and other critics of improperly bringing politics into the business of federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency, the General Services Administration and, most notably, the Justice Department, which has been reeling under accusations that officials sought to politicize the apparatus of law enforcement.
Yeah okay, so opponents "accuse" their opposition of things. Shocker! As a separate article,** a must read to help understand the dangers to reasoned thinking in this country, has a teacher of evolution say: "science is not based on faith." Don't just tell us about "accusations," discuss WHY the accusations have bite (Talking Points Memo et. al. might help). Again, as the teacher said:
If you see something you don’t understand, you have to ask ‘why?’ or ‘how?’
The politicization of the selection of immigration judges also can help students learn a thing or two about irony. To wit:
Mr. Fine also noted that the judges could not be fired because they were now protected by civil-service statutes — the same laws violated when they were selected.
David Iglesias represents the type of public servant this country needs, his party label much less important than his integrity and skills. We need to truly understand the depths the current administration and their enablers has brought us, but more importantly, we must go the right way from this moment forward. I personally think this in part includes being clear about what happened and bringing forth some real consequences, but adequate governance is the core thing here.
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* There is some dispute if seven attorneys were fired for partisan reasons. It might have been more.
** For instance:
As recently as three years ago, the guidelines that govern science education in more than a third of American public schools gave exceedingly short shrift to evolution, according to reviews by education experts. Some still do, science advocates contend. Just this summer, religious advocates lobbied successfully for a Louisiana law that protects the right of local schools to teach alternative theories for the origin of species, even though there are none that scientists recognize as valid.
This reflects the fact that some polls suggest over forty percent of the country "believe God created all living things in their present form, sometime in the last 10,000 years." Unlike the teacher profiled here, I'm not sure if we can always say "Faith is not based on science." Jefferson surely didn't think so. There is some connection, even if it is a result of misplaced reason. But, faith can be a dangerous thing if it runs counter to right reason all the same. Current events underlines the fact.