Gonzales must resign now. "Mistakes were made."

Good riddance, and it's about time.

It is no wonder that Gonzo has hired a criminal defense lawyer.


JUSTICE
The Rovian Touch
"Alberto Gonzales is out as attorney general, but there is still a lot of questionable Justice Department activity for Congress to sort through," stated the New York Times in September. In particular, the case of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman (D) has raised concerns about the extent of the politicization of justice under the Bush administration. In 2006, Siegelman was convicted on charges of "conspiracy, bribery and fraud," stemming from payments made by then-HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy payments to Siegelman "in laundered funds to obtain a seat on a state regulatory board governing HealthSouth." Siegelman was also charged with a "pay-for-play scheme" tied to lobbyist Lanny Young. But Time magazine obtained documents last week showing that Young "also gave illegal contributions to U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and U.S. Circuit Judge Bill Pryor, both Republicans and both former state attorneys general." Sessions and Pryor, however, were never investigated or prosecuted. This week, House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) released testimony from Alabama Republican operative Dana Jill Simpson charging that former Bush adviser Karl Rove and his allies pushed the Justice Department into prosecuting Siegelman. In a bipartisan letter to Congress raising concern about Siegelman's prosecution, 44 former state attorneys general wrote: "There is reason to believe that the case brought against Governor Siegelman may have had sufficient irregularities as to call into question the basic fairness that is the linchpin of our system of justice."

--americanprogressaction

Keep an eye on the ones who weren't fired.

Joe(I call my Senator Schumer once a week and whisper that in his ear.)Nation

Good point Joe (who occasionally makes some good points) Nation. They are probably the ones coming clean.

No, they are the ones who are still in their jobs and who believe it is their job to prosecute, not crimes, but Democrats. The evidence in Mississippi against several people should have brought charges, but only Democrats ended up on the docket and in jail.

The damage this administration has done to the Justice Department (and the Constitution) has been severe and will take years to repair. The Conservative's objective, which is to have one party rule with a President who can rule by fiat if he so wishes, is about as anti-American a political policy as has ever been conceived in this nation.

Joe(And we are far from being out of danger from their efforts)Nation

Joe(who may be a bit cynical)Nation, you may be right. I thought that, after what has transpired, and the departure of Rove (Dr. Strangelove), Justice might be on the mend. I wager there are many at Justice who are sickened by the damage wrought by Bush and his minions to this great agency. They would not stand back and countenance a continuation of those horrible policies.

I think that Joe(cautious not cynical) Nations point is that those who are still there (in Justice) MAY NOT be sickened by the damage wrought by Bush and his minions and WOULD stand back and countenance a continuation of those horrible policies. That is why they are still there.

s, you may have a point. I thought that, under the circumstances, the careerists may be in the ascendency. But I guess this view is naive as long as the torturer-in-chief is in office.

And don't forget all the "little and middle" people whom were vetted by Ms. Monica Gooding using methods she admitted in her Senate testimony were "over the line", that is to say, illegal. Anyone not meeting the proper credentials of Conservative, Bible College Grad or both, were not considered for any position. The people who did meet the requirements haven't resigned yet, the department is still dotted with idealogues whose goal in life is to bring the law of Scripture into the Justice Department.
(I think they want to have the same justice department as Iran)

Joe(and, hey, have any charges been brought against Gooding yet?)Nation

There would be a good story on this issue for, say, the Wash. Post to pursue. Neither of us has the facts.

You are absolutely correct. I don't see how congress, and even the Republican members, can accept this contempt.

Right in line with this are Bush's signing statements, supposedly allowing him to ignore laws fully enacted. The statements must not be allowed to stand.

Not my comments (though I agree with them) that's an editorial from The New York Times.

I will say what I have been saying from the beginning of this mess. It's not who was fired, that's important, but not as important as who was NOT fired.

Who are the loyal Bushitos who are now in charge of your personal freedoms in the Federal Courts System? Rachel Paulose comes to mind.

Joe(keep watching them, they need watching)Nation

An aspect to this which I find extremely distasteful is that given a Dem presidential win, they are going to have to do an ideological purge. That wouldn't have been so if Bush administration appointees were anything like moderates, even if Republican. And it will be a lot of people because of what Rove tried to do.

Perhaps, B, they will all flee ahead of time rather than be faced with working within an actual Justice system and not the political machine we have now.

Joe(what a nice dream)Nation

I am sure that, during the coming year, many of the Bushies are going to burrow into regular civil service jobs at the various federal agencies. This is especially pernicious considering that the Bush people selected were those who hate government.

This will become the greatest mystery of our time; a president that screwed up everything he touched, and after his term as president will be given the opportunity to make more money than over 90 percent of the citizens he ended up screwing.

He already has more money than a very small fraction of the top 1%. His pockets are ripping the seams in his pants. And it's not just his fat ass.

Yes, lets replace one set of idealogues for another. That's a brilliant plan.

Bush seems to be a rather fit man for his age. Nothing more then the comment of a rather bitter person.