Attorney General Alberto Gonzales

For those of you who do not know a lot about the travesties going on in the Department of Justice (DOJ) I strongly encourage you to search for videos of Congressional hearings that have been held in the last months, and the one which was held today by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Sen. Patrick Leahy's opening statement was a good summary of the shocking things that threaten the things which make this country good like the separation of powers, the balance within the separation of powers that divides our government into three balances with checks and balances over the others. A system I know that you are aware was designed to keep the abuses of an absolute tyrant from oppressing free citizens of a republic, a public that governs the government by the absolute authority of law written down on paper. The very thing implied in the strength of this system is transparency, not secrecy. Abuses of power thrive on secrecy. The most threatening force to the DOJ is the influence from the White House to politicize decisions that should be made based upon the ideals of justice. It is after a very simply named department of justice. It has no other name. It's mission is evident in its name.

If you watch the footage from the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings from the Attorney General (AG) Alberto Gonzales of June 24, 2007 you will know of the closeness with which the White House and the DOJ have worked during the terms of President Bush. Previously, there was authorization that allowed for only a handful of people authorized to communicate from the offices of the Chief Executive of the United States and the offices of the Attorney General. Under Alberto Gonzales' predecessor's direction these safety valves were removed and now virtually anyone from the White House can communicate with anyone in the DOJ and assign any task or collect any information he or she many deem necessary.

In other words, corruption, and at the very least an imbalance in focus on issues of law enforcement. Justice, by nature is an impartial force, yet the executive branch is charged with the execution of the law. The DOJ then should be under the direction of the President, but operating on a daily basis with a degree of autonomy incorporating the broad directives, if any, from the White House into its constant an unwavering duty to the guiding principles of justice, not the selective ambitions and ideologies of one man or group of men in he executive.

The Office of the Attorney General does have the potential to be an autonomous office of government. And no new laws are necessary. We already require the position to be filled by appointment of the president and with the advice and consent of the Senate. This is the system of checks and balances working through its designed purposes. It the Senate could be persuaded to hire an AG only once they have been satisfied he or she has met certain requirements and passed their scrutiny then the deserving candidate should become AG.

The problem is that appointments are generally made because Congress is seeking favor with the White House, either with new presidents, or at other times when appointments are traded for vetoes and votes are traded for funding.

The government is screwed up, but there are ways to improve it. Should the Senate design a list of questions, an examination process, to be built upon by successive classes of the Senate - after which the successful candidate will be the appointed AG? As I understand it the President places an ad for applicants to vacant positions. Whether or not the president wishes to appoint friends and neighbors, or only the most qualified people to offices of government it should be the final decision of the Senate to accept or deny the nominations of the president. All candidates for the position of AG should be subject to the same scrutiny. What makes such a public list or written job description so important is that the Senate conducts the interviewing process and they are subject to our public pressure.

What then can we do to make ourselves active in this process and attempt to bring more salt and light to the Department of Justice?

Link to C-SPAN video of Gonzales hearings: http://www.c-span.org/