The reaction from most Republicans about the firing of eight federal prosecutors by attorney general Alberto Gonzales is that this scandal is actually a non-scandal, a made up outrage used by Democrats to push their partisan agenda… Despite being a Democrat, I can understand this reaction. It was the way most of us felt during Bill Clinton’s impeachment. The Republicans were trying to kick the president out of office because he got his dick sucked by a 23-year old intern.
But the thing is Bubba Clinton had done something wrong: he committed perjury. And while that may not be enough to kick the president out of office, it is not some light crime made up by Republicans.
The same logic, I think, can be used here. Firing people from an apolitical position for political reason may not be a crime like perjury, but it is unfair and wrong. It’s the equivalent of getting fired from a job because you’re a Red Sox fan, and the bosses are all Yankees fans. That fact may piss you off, but it is irrelevant to the job at hand.
The firings become even more egregious as we learn more details. In today’s New York Times David C. Iglesias, the former U.S. attorney from New Mexico and one of the eight attorneys fired, explaines why he thought he was fired.
Iglesias, a Republican himself, tells of the pressure applied to him by New Mexican Republican politicians, because he didn’t prosecute a corruption case involving local Democrats. Soon after he was fired.
Well, a critic might say, he didn’t do his job, he should prosecuted the corruption. This is how Iglesias responds:
“As this story has unfolded these last few weeks, much has been made of my decision to not prosecute alleged voter fraud in New Mexico. Without the benefit of reviewing evidence gleaned from F.B.I. investigative reports, party officials in my state have said that I should have begun a prosecution. What the critics, who don’t have any experience as prosecutors, have asserted is reprehensible — namely that I should have proceeded without having proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The public has a right to believe that prosecution decisions are made on legal, not political, grounds.”
It’s hard to argue with what he says: Politics has no place amongst justice and the law.
Technorati Tags: u.s. attorney firings, Bill Clinton, Monica Lewinsky, New York Times, David C. Iglesias, Alberto Gonzales, George W. Bush
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March 21st, 2007 
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