Today's NY Times has an editorial titled, "Why This Scandal Matters," which is another scathing indictment of Alberto Gonzales. They nail the problem, but it's outrageous that some still don't understand why this scandal matters:
It is now clear that United States attorneys were pressured to act in the interests of the Republican Party, and lost their job if they failed to do so. The firing offenses of the nine prosecutors who were purged last year were that they would not indict Democrats, they investigated important Republicans, or they would not try to suppress the votes of Democratic-leaning groups with baseless election fraud cases.It is shocking. In some ways, it's too shocking for many in the Washington punditry to grasp. I really think some reporters and columnists just can't bring themselves to believe what Bush and his lackeys have been doing. Last week, because the Bush spinmeisters told them the scandal was over, the consensus among the D.C. brain trust was the Gonzales had survived. Wrong.
The degree of partisanship in the department is shocking.
For too long, Bush and his crew have manipulated the media. Rove relied on the idea that the reporters would never think them capable of all the lies, law breaking and deception. He knows the media will never call any of them liars, which has allowed the Bush team to lie without ramifications.
This scandal matters. Gonzales has to go. Some of his staffers and former staffers should be in jail.
The Bush administration really is a bad -- even worse -- than we thought. We couldn't make up some of the stuff they've done.
