It’s 2007, not 2004…duh!

What is the big deal about the recent firings of 8 U.S. Attorneys? We must first begin with exactly how a U.S. Attorney gets their job in the first place in order to understand the overall significance of the firings. Generally U.S. Attorney’s are nominated by the president based on the input of Senators from selected districts. Usually the individuals that are nominated are from the president’s political party; the GOP in this case. In a sense, becoming a U.S. Attorney is a patronage affair. And they all serve at the pleasure of the president.

But the thing is, after becoming a U.S. Attorney, your politics suddenly goes out the door, as it is the job of an attorney to be fair and unbiased in all legal matters. Democrats allege that the 8 U.S. Attorneys that were unceremoniously dismissed were fired for their politics. This is a serious accusation because most U.S. Attorneys eventually resign at the end of a president’s term and are either retained or let go. It is no secret that U.S. Attorney’s are fired, but during the middle of a president’s term is something else.

It was originally the idea of Harriet Miers, former White House Counsel, that all 93 U.S. Attorneys be fired at the beginning of President Bush’s second term. Oddly enough, the Bush Administration declined to fire anyone. Even though these attorneys do serve at the pleasure of the president, they should only be fired in circumstances in which they are not performing their job in a satisfactory manner. Three of the individuals fired did receive poor ratings, but it still does not explain the sudden urge to fire the individuals.

The attorney in question in this case is David Iglesias, who had received a superb rating and was not on the original list of candidates to be fired. He was fired because New Mexican Republicans were irritated that he was not prosecuting enough voter fraud cases. Yes, there is a voting fraud issue in New Mexico, but it does not explain why Iglesias and 7 other U.S. Attorney’s were removed from their offices during the middle of the president’s term. If this is a blatant abuse of power that the Democrats are claiming it is, Alberto Gonzales should be fired to.