No More Gonzos
by Trapper John

I'm not going to enumerate Alberto Gonzales's many sins right now, as there are other people who can and will do a far better job of that in this space. Suffice it to say that Gonzales brought unprecedented shame on the Justice Department, an agency staffed by some of the brightest, hardest-working public servants in America. George W. Bush, a President with no regard for the sanctity of the Constitution, placed his chief enabler -- the legal equivalent of Elvis's RX-dispensing drug doctor -- in charge of the department that we rely on to protect and enforce that Constitution. The result was over two years of sneering contempt for the rule of law and those who believe in it. The Gonzales Justice Department was really the Bush Administration writ small -- a claque of incompentent cronies, bonded by dumb loyalty to their chief rather than the public interest, with no agenda other than pursuit of their narrow, selfish interests.

And that's why we need to draw a very simple line before any names are floated for the AG vacancy: the Senate should not consider any nominee who has served in any capacity in the Bush Administration.

A Democratic-led Senate cannot allow this Administration to once again graft the cancer of cronyism to the head of the Justice Department. And while it's possible that there are a few honest, qualified public servants toiling somewhere in the bowels of the Administration, Harry Reid isn't Diogenes, and shouldn't waste the Senate's time in determining whether such a creature really exists. The hallmark of Bush Administration personnel recruitment has been its commitment to one, and only one, qualification for employment -- unswerving loyalty to Bush and Cheney. Therefore, it should be assumed that anyone who has served in an appointed capacity in this Administration is loyal to Bush, not the Constitution. And that's enough to disqualify any AG nominee.

Bush has less than a year and a half left in his term. Democrats control both houses of Congress. Given an opportunity to mitigate the historic damge to our Constitution, the Senate cannot allow Bush to have his way with the Justice Department one more time by installing yet another loyalist. It's time for a fresh start. The Senate needs to make Bush appoint someone from outside of the Administration to fill the office once held by Bobby Kennedy. It's that simple.