I’m surprised by the level of confusion surrounding Attorney General (and unofficial Torture-Czar) Gonzales and his firings of eight US attorneys. You’re probably heard that there’s a big uproar. Congress doesn’t like it. Shrub’s saying they were presidential appointees and he should be allowed to fire people he appointed.
The story gets reported through such a myopic lens every time I see it. The importance of the issue has become washed away beneath a tide of talking points and even I was left wondering (mind you, it was nearly 5am and I was on a treadmill), “Why should Congress care if Shrub wants to fire his own people?”
It’s that “why” that everyone is forgetting.
It’s why these people were fired. Some were fired because Shrub’s people wanted them to persecute Democrats, which is wrong. Some were fired because Shrub’s people didn’t want them to prosecute Republicans who had been caught breaking the law (such as in San Diego), which is also wrong.
Why is it wrong?
Because when the justice system no longer serves to determine what is just and, instead, determines who is just about had it, it is no longer a justice system. When the justice system stops serving the law and, instead, serves a monarchical master, it is no longer a justice system. To be blunt, when the justice system becomes one man’s personal vendetta machine, it is no longer a justice system.
We’ve all allowed our rights to be slowly stripped away from us. Unlawful search and seizure. Habeas corpus. Torture. One by one, more and more.
We’ve let them take away our day in court.
Are we also going to allow these evil, greedy, power mad fiends to run off with the court, as well?
That’s why it matters. As late in the day as it is, as much as we’ve allowed them to do to us, it is our chance – and that of Congress – to say, “You’ve had enough. You cannot do this, too.”
Have they no shame, those soulless cockroaches in the White House? No. They don’t.
Thankfully, people are starting to see that.
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