No Prosecution for Persecution
About a year or so ago, there was quite a stir in Washington, DC when it became apparent that Bush Administration political appointees within the Department of Justice (DOJ) illegally discriminated against job applicants based on their political affiliations. Monica Goodling became a big name in the news when she openly admitted to illegally taking political considerations into account in the hiring of career employees at the DOJ. This is to say that if a job applicant wasn't found to sufficiently support the Republican agenda, that individual had virtually no chance at getting hired. Last year, the Washington Post reported that Goodling was known for favoring graduates of such intellectual powerhouses as Regent University and Liberty University.
While some positions within all federal departments are specifically for political appointments by the administration in power, the rank-and-file or "career" employees of the federal government are specifically shielded by law from having their political preferences weighed in their consideration for employment.
Or not.
The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that Attorney General Michael Mukasey said that there would be no criminal prosecutions as a result of the improper hiring practices at the DOJ. He told attendees at an American Bar Association meeting that, "Not every wrong, or even every violation of the law, is a crime." – Say what??? How is a violation of the law not a crime?
Not that this isn't par for the course for the Bush Administration, but with an attorney general who has this much respect for the law, who need criminals?
