Sunday, April 22, 2007
from the Kennebec Journal
FAIRPOINT PLAN TARGETS DEBT
Wind project off Mass. meets strong resistance
Three bills seek tougher rules for petitioners
New rules for special education debated
Happy apples
AUGUSTA: Cuts to French curriculum run into opposition
HIGH SCHOOL BOYS BASKETBALL: Hall-Dale drops MVC title game to Mountain Valley
HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY NOTEBOOK: Different stakes in Gardiner-Winslow rivalry
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Kennebec Journal
from the Morning Sentinel
'At the time ... he was psychotic'
Man answers door, is attacked with Mace and then robbed
FairPoint reorganization plan aims to slash company's debt
Concerns over special-education changes aired
FAIRFIELD: Clinton man, 21, arrested on rape, assault charges
Stun gun, arrest of suspect end high-speed, 2-town chase
HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY NOTEBOOK: Gardiner, Winslow take to ice again
GIRLS BASKETBALL: Skowhegan wins KVAC A title game
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Morning Sentinel
Almost, but not quite.
The attorney general made a long-awaited appearance before a Senate subcommittee last week, where he was asked to explain the circumstances that led to the suspicious firing of eight United States attorneys across the country.
Sitting alone, under the camera's merciless glare and the more merciless questioning of lawmakers, Gonzales cut an almost tragic figure. His answers to questions even from Republican senators were bumbling and insufficient; the inescapable conclusion to which even those friendliest to him were brought was that the nation's highest law enforcement official was either lying or utterly incompetent.
The question that occurred to us was, "Wasn't there anyone better for this job?"
After six years of the Bush administration, the pattern is clear: For the president, a job candidate's chief qualification -- with some exceptions -- is loyalty; skills, ethics and background are secondary at best. That description fits Gonzales to a "T." His background was largely as a Bush loyalist; his most recent job was as the president's counsel in the White House.
But that attribute hardly qualified Gonzales to be attorney general. And now, the chickens have come home to roost. If political loyalty is your primary motivation, that paves the way for firing U.S. attorneys because they haven't proven themselves loyal as well. If you're simply unqualified for the job, then you mismanage the Department of Justice so badly that you don't even know what's going on right under your nose -- no matter how inappropriate your employees' behavior may be.
So we have an explanation for either scenario -- lies or mismanagement -- but we don't have a solution. That solution rests with the president and Gonzales, both of whom have abused this country's faith and trust. It's high time the president recognizes that cronyism has no place in this nation's government and that his practice of rewarding fealty with high positions -- "You're doing a heckuva job, Brownie" -- has resulted in incompetence at best and tragedy at worst.
As for Mr. Gonzales, we have no idea how any self-respecting public servant could show up at the office the Monday after such a pathetic performance. We hope that over this weekend, as Gonzales' support evaporates even among loyal Republicans, both the president and the attorney general get a grip on reality and realize that this country needs a new attorney general.

Reader comments
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The democrats control congress but continue to do nothing but waste more time on nothing , Bush had the authority to fire those people and he did , find something else to complain about now rather than tackle americas problems.report abuse
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