Blind Prophecy

So the Attorney General of the United States argued today that when you break the law, it isn’t necessarily a crime. Great news from the country’s chief prosecuting lawyer. For instance, it’s not a crime when you illegally use political ideology and other discriminatory practices in hiring.

No criminal prosecutions are planned for former Justice Department officials accused of allowing politics to influence the hiring of prosecutors, immigration judges and other career government lawyers, Attorney General Michael Mukasey said Tuesday.

Mukasey used his sharpest words yet to criticize the senior leaders who took part in or failed to stop illegal hiring practices during the tenure of his predecessor, Alberto Gonzales.

But, he told delegates to the American Bar Association annual meeting, “Not every wrong, or even every violation of the law, is a crime. In this instance, the two joint reports found only violations of the civil service laws.”

…

An internal investigation concluded last month that for nearly two years, top advisers to Gonzales discriminated against applicants for career jobs who weren’t Republican or conservative loyalists.

Fucking fantastic! If I’m speeding down the road, is that a “crime” or just a “violation of traffic laws”?

Sure, I get that there’s a difference between criminal code and civil service laws, but it’s a rather pathetic academic distinction. When people violate the law — any law, whether it is civil, criminal or whatever — the justice system is supposed to provide remedy and corrective action.

There are days when I can’t believe how blatantly corrupt and arrogant this administration is. I mean, it’s like they’re not even trying to justify obvious cronyism, ignoring the constitution, and grabbing insane amounts of power to promote a specific ideological agenda.

Filed under: politics by Jere Keys