ReportFromTheFront's Blog

As unbelievable as it seems, the Bush administration has once again managed to shoot itself in the foot, this time with the firings of eight federal prosecutors. You would think by now that they would have run out of feet as suitable targets, but somehow the President and his inner cadre' - dubbed the Texas Mafia - still manage to perservere.

Ever since Thomas Jefferson came into office, it has been the custom and prerogative of every incoming president to replace unelected government personnel upon taking office with individuals of his choosing in order to promote the agenda of the incoming administration - much as Mr. Bush did when he assumed office for his first term. As a result, the replacement of federal officials every four years isn't new and is hardly newsworthy. People in certain positions in the federal government accept these appointments and take their jobs knowing full well that they could possibly be seeking other employment before they know it.

What makes this round of firings different is that it came about in mid term and appears to be solely for purely political reasons - as denied by the White House - and not based on poor performance as has been attested to by the President and others.

Multiple reams of email traffic provided to the Justice Committee clearly show an intricately planned strategy to replace the eight prosecutors at the center of this maelstrom because of the belief by the Bush administration that they were guilty of pursuing Republican quarry too vigorously, Democratic individuals not vigorously enough and, in one specific case, to reward a protege' of political advisor Carl Rove.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has repeatedly denied any prior knowledge of, or involvement in, any the firings despite the written evidence supplied to Congress which contradicts him. Once this was pointed out to Mr. Gonzales, his only tacit (and reluctant) admission - that something was obviously amiss at Justice - was to tout what has now become the all too familiar catch phrase of the Bush adminstration: "Mistakes were made". Mr. Gonzales, it seems, has forgotten that he is no longer George Bush's lawyer and that with his elevation to the position of the country's number one law enforcement official, he is sworn to uphold and pursue the interests of the American people and not the personal agenda of one George W. Bush. For his part, Mr. Bush has somehow managed to conveniently forget that as well.

Though all unelected federal workers in all departments and at all levels serve at the pleasure of the President, the firing of these eight prosecutors was uncalled for and completely unjustifiable by any yardstick of measurement regardless of which party affiliation you happen to claim. The records show that they people did not have poor performance ratings nor were they biased one way or the other in the cases which they were prosecuting. The lies put forth by the administration to explain and justify their replacement - something which, sadly, it appears is coming all too easily to Mr. Bush these days - as support for this latest bonehead move should not be tolerated.

I believe Congress should pursue Mr. Bush, Mr. Gonzales and anyone else involved in this incident with all of the pressure that they, as the worlds most powerful legislative body, can bring to bear. If they do, then perhaps Mr. Bush will remember that he was elected President and not King.