The Department of "Justice"

The investigations into the practices of the Justice Department continue. The report that was released a couple of days ago is damning in the way that career employees were hired as if they were political appointees. Here's the story from the Post. This is from USA Today.

It seems a political hack of the Bush administration named Monica Goodling used political considerations in the hiring of prosecutors, immigration judges and other career government lawyers. From the USA Today story:

In one instance, Justice investigators found, Goodling objected to hiring an assistant prosecutor in Washington because "judging from his resume, he appeared to be a liberal Democrat."

In another, she rejected an experienced terror prosecutor to work on counterterror issues at a Justice Department headquarters office "because of his wife's political affiliations," the report said. It also said she rejected at least one job applicant who was rumored to be a lesbian.

As long as it could be determined you were loyal to George Bush you'd be hired if you were qualified for the position or not. The person hired for the counter terror position was a registered Republican with three years of experience none of it dealing with terrorism.

Yet somehow we are to regard Ms. Goodling as some sort of a saint:

John M. Dowd, an attorney for Goodling, said yesterday that she deserved praise, not scorn, for her “exceptional candor” with Congress last year. “Each and every one of the core conclusions of the OIG/OPR report . . . is consistent with and indeed derived from Ms. Goodling’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee,” he said.

Wow talk about turning the world upside down. Goodling did something clearly unethical and probably illegal but because she told the “truth” about what she did she should be praised. What will they think of next?

And who was in charge of the Justice Department when this was going on of course the clueless Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

This is yet another reminder of how good it will be when this administration is no longer in power.

One final observation. This type of conduct is a grab for power. To impose an ideological stamp on the Justice Department. While they were attempting to do this the business of protecting the people of this country was ignored. That's what angers me the most.