They’re NOT Political Pawns

An aide to Alberto Gonzales is about to inform Congress that the eight federal prosecutors who were controversially fired were let go because they weren't lock step behind the President's priorities, but rather their own. That is EXACTLY why the Attorney General is in hot water right now. For once they are admitting the truth. The problem is, the truth isn't an issue for them. They think it is perfectly fine to fire prosecutors because they aren't lining up behind the President's politics. This administration honestly believed that federal prosecutors ARE political pawns to be used in the game of political chess by the President. I don't know what is scarier, the people who believe this or the American peoples for electing the man who put these people in positions of power.

They serve at the pleasure of the President…I've heard that phrase over a hundred times this week alone. Sure, the President has a right to fire them because they don't agree with everything he wants. That doesn't make him a criminal…that makes him a jerk. Yes, I said jerk. Federal prosecutors are not political pawns. They are not there to be used to help the President and especially not the President's party. If it is true that they were fired for not putting the President's priorities first, then that lets us know what the President's priorities are; not the American people, not to protect democracy, but the improve his standing and help his party win elections. Even then, they serve at the pleasure of the PRESIDENT, not the Attorney General, nor his chief of staff, nor the White House Counsel, nor the Deputy White House Chief of Staff, and even then, new prosecutors MUST be confirmed by the Senate, thereby eliminating a chance the President would abuse his power like this.

I've read a good number of the e-mails between Kyle Sampson, Gonzales' chief of staff, and Harriet Miers, the former White House Counsel. It is clear by reading them that people in the White House conspired to abuse a clause in the PATRIOT Act to oust federal prosecutors and replace them without any say from any other branch of the government. Take Arkansas where Bud Cummings was replaced by Karl Rove's little friend. Rove's friend would never have been confirmed by the Senate, but thanks to the glorious PATRIOT Act, he doesn't have to be. The Senate, the Legislative Branch, does not check the Executive Branch's power, despite the fact that was the way the government was designed.

You can invoke the fact that Bill Clinton fired all 93 prosecutors when he became President. He, of course, had to get all 93 replacements confirmed by the Senate, albeit a Democratic Senate. If President Bush had fired all 93 prosecutors in early 2005, I guarantee to you there would not be an issue today, but he didn't. He allowed members of his staff to conspire and he allowed his unelected Attorney General, hand pink slips to eight prosecutors who did not help the Republicans keep Congress, which is not at all the job of the prosecutors. Let it be known that if NOT for that overlooked clause of the PATRIOT Act, this NEVER would've happened because the President would have to have gotten his replacement approved by the Senate, and because they were all fired in December and January, he would've gotten them approved in a Democratic Senate.

Also, once again, the Justice Department admits it LIED to the US Senate over the role Karl Rove played in this mess, or rather didn't lie, but "misinformed." The Justice Department told four Democratic Senators that they did not know of any involvement Karl Rove may have had in the appointment of his pal Tim Griffin to be US Attorney in Arkansas. They know admit that they did know about his involvement, they were just "mistaken." Gonzales still stands by his statement that he had no idea what was going on. I find it funny his only defense is that he is grossly incompetent. So he's either incompetent or he's unethical…either way, really, should he still be the Attorney General?

Gonzales is due to go before Congress on April 17^th…assuming he survives that long.