Last Monday the Department of Justice released the results of their investigation into the hiring practices of Monica Goodling and Kyle Sampson. They were both implicated as hiring attorneys for the Department of Justice based primarily on political loyalty instead of qualification. It didn't get much air time in the mainstream media, which is not too surprising. There's no strong visuals and no easily grabbed punchline. It sounds like some bureaucrats violated some obscure internal policies and may get their hands slapped.
Let's be clear. This story is about the survival of democracy in America. This is "shout it from the rooftops" and "march in the streets" kind of news. The key is to understand the difference between political appointees and career employees. The idea that the current administration may appoint a wide variety of department heads and agency officials has been accepted for about two hundred years. But, while political appointees come and go, the real work is done by career employees. They do not serve a single president, but serve all equally. They are expected to be non-partisan and competent--because they serve the nation--not the leader. Yet one of the questions Monica Goodling regularly asked applicants was why they wished to serve George W. Bush. Kyle Sampson wanted "loyal Bushies" to be given preference when hiring judges. In order to get the job, you had to belong to the right party. Eventually, that party would have a monopoly on government - One Party Rule. Now think of every country you associate with the rationale "My father really wasn't that way, he just joined The Party to get a good job. Everybody had to back then." Do you really want to live in that country? The path of Goodling and Sampson leads us all there. It is up to us to categorically reject and denounce these practices in any administration.
The Department of Justice controls who gets investigated and prosecuted for wrongdoing. It doesn't matter how many federal crimes a person commits, if the DOJ chooses not to investigate, they will go scot free. We cannot tolerate those decisions to be completely controlled by one political party any more than we can tolerate a military that defends only one party or an educational system that only allows the members of one party to go to school. We do not tolerate monopolies on oil, or food, or telephone service. "Power corrupts" has been true for all people in all ages and all times. We cannot tolerate a monopoly on power.
What really frightens me is that these actions were not isolated cases of low-level workers. Goodling and Sampson reported directly to Alberto Gonzales, who was then the Attorney General (his attorney claims Gonzales did not know what was going on). Similar actions were suggested within the White House to hire Federal Prosecutors. The State Department used the same criteria to hire diplomats working in Iraq's Green Zone. It sounds more systematic than accidental, so who designed the system? I suspect there will be no serious inquiry into that.
What others are saying:
Christian Science Monitor
CNN
MSNBC
Josh Marshall
Let's be clear. This story is about the survival of democracy in America. This is "shout it from the rooftops" and "march in the streets" kind of news. The key is to understand the difference between political appointees and career employees. The idea that the current administration may appoint a wide variety of department heads and agency officials has been accepted for about two hundred years. But, while political appointees come and go, the real work is done by career employees. They do not serve a single president, but serve all equally. They are expected to be non-partisan and competent--because they serve the nation--not the leader. Yet one of the questions Monica Goodling regularly asked applicants was why they wished to serve George W. Bush. Kyle Sampson wanted "loyal Bushies" to be given preference when hiring judges. In order to get the job, you had to belong to the right party. Eventually, that party would have a monopoly on government - One Party Rule. Now think of every country you associate with the rationale "My father really wasn't that way, he just joined The Party to get a good job. Everybody had to back then." Do you really want to live in that country? The path of Goodling and Sampson leads us all there. It is up to us to categorically reject and denounce these practices in any administration.
The Department of Justice controls who gets investigated and prosecuted for wrongdoing. It doesn't matter how many federal crimes a person commits, if the DOJ chooses not to investigate, they will go scot free. We cannot tolerate those decisions to be completely controlled by one political party any more than we can tolerate a military that defends only one party or an educational system that only allows the members of one party to go to school. We do not tolerate monopolies on oil, or food, or telephone service. "Power corrupts" has been true for all people in all ages and all times. We cannot tolerate a monopoly on power.
What really frightens me is that these actions were not isolated cases of low-level workers. Goodling and Sampson reported directly to Alberto Gonzales, who was then the Attorney General (his attorney claims Gonzales did not know what was going on). Similar actions were suggested within the White House to hire Federal Prosecutors. The State Department used the same criteria to hire diplomats working in Iraq's Green Zone. It sounds more systematic than accidental, so who designed the system? I suspect there will be no serious inquiry into that.
What others are saying:
Christian Science Monitor
CNN
MSNBC
Josh Marshall
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3 comments:
Hi there,
You write extremely well! and i was very pleased to read some of your posts. I think you have a great potential blog writing about politics is the way to go its the most searched keyword in Google. And you said you are keep upto date. I suggest add some video's images so people get connected. Add posts on Digg, Stumble. keep posting you have readers like me ..
cheers.
Thanks for the encouraging words. Blogging is too often like falling down in the forest -- you wonder if anyone hears! :-)
Keith-
Your blog shows much promise! I can tell you are a sharp guy and the way you present information from both sides of the coin is a breath of fresh air compared to all the truly partisan blogs out there. I wish more people understood the importance of balance in regards to politics. Thank you and I'll keep checking in!
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