Illegal Hiring at Justice Department

So now that department has illegal hiring AND firing? (4.00 / 3)

What about illegal promotions from within?  Let's not leave anything out here.  After all, this administration is an equal opportunity offender.

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by: Douglas E. Lindner @ Tue Jun 24, 2008 at 16:30:44 PM CDT

Good point (0.00 / 0)

The firings we knew about; the hirings merely seem to logically follow. I will update.

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by: JimC @ Tue Jun 24, 2008 at 16:34:54 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

This is why even DEMOCRATS (4.00 / 3)

no longer trust the federal government. Key positions within the Justice Dept. were filled not on the basis of merit, but on the basis of political ideology and now there is paperwork to document this law-breaking. Anyone who's spent any time working in Washington has been well aware of the disgrace at DOJ since "W" took power.

This issue is at the very top of my list for why we need to elect Barack Obama as our next president. From day one, Sen. Obama has spoken out for transparent government, ethics in government, bipartisanship and for once again bringing our country's best and brightest back into public service. The concept of "merit" is completely foreign to this administration.

I'm so sick of this "yes man" neo-con mentality that I'm going to put my "Manchester for Obama" bumper sticker on my car right now!

Support the campaign to elect NH's Young Democrats:

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by: Garth Corriveau @ Tue Jun 24, 2008 at 17:11:10 PM CDT

America's Illegal Litigants Problem n/t (4.00 / 2)

The giant finds its gait.

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by: Jack Mitchell @ Tue Jun 24, 2008 at 19:15:46 PM CDT

Well, if (0.00 / 0)

"reality has a well-known liberal bias," then reality is gonna have a hard time getting a job at DoJ.

Wonder if Sununu's fired now.

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by: Dean Barker @ Tue Jun 24, 2008 at 20:42:33 PM CDT

By all means (4.00 / 2)

REJECT Dept. of Justice applicants who belong to such unAmerican groups as the American Constitution Society.

Bush, heading a movement that believes neither in government nor welfare, has turned the entire federal government into GOPer welfare.

< banging head against wall repeatedly >

Wonder if Sununu's fired now.

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by: Dean Barker @ Tue Jun 24, 2008 at 20:47:06 PM CDT

Federalist Society (4.00 / 1)

might be considered a "conservative group," but from the $5 student membership I had for a bit, they didn't strike me as too in favor of a strong federal government that abuses the Constitution. Why a Bush DOJ would favor them is kind of an interesting question.

Most of the articles I read in their Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy struck me as pretty conservative in the traditional sense, i.e. favoring states' rights, rather than the reactionary and authoritarian Bush sense of "conservative".

The ACS apparently has a pretty interesting journal, too. So it might be worthwhile to be a member of both groups. Which I guess would net you a neutral position from the Bush DOJ.

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by: Alex Gallichon @ Tue Jun 24, 2008 at 21:16:01 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

One thing I'd like to know (0.00 / 0)

I have read that the Federalist Society has taken on a vetting role for federal judgeships. This is the role traditionally played by the American Bar Association. They rate nominees ("qualified," "not qualified," "well qualified").  But in the Bush administration, it is alleged, the Federalist Society's rating was weighted at least as heavily as ABA's rating.

So, when President Obama appoints his first nominee, and the traditional ABA rating comes in, will someone say "What about the Federalist Society?"  And if that nominee is, say, Lawrence Tribe, will the Federalist Society object? And will it be considered valid for a senator to note their objection?

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by: JimC @ Wed Jun 25, 2008 at 06:18:41 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Well, sure - (0.00 / 0)

Just as someone could say "What does BlueHampshire think?" and a Senator could note a poll result here...

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by: elwood @ Wed Jun 25, 2008 at 09:04:01 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Yes (0.00 / 0)

But we're objective. Sort of.

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by: JimC @ Wed Jun 25, 2008 at 09:20:06 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

If we rate judges (4.00 / 1)

Can we start now?

Marjorie Cohn in Truthout: http://www.truthout.org/articl...

To bolster his argument that the Guantanamo detainees should be denied the right to prove their innocence in federal courts, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in his dissent in Boumediene v. Bush: "At least 30 of those prisoners hitherto released from Guantanamo have returned to the battlefield." It turns out that statement is false.

   According to a new report by Seton Hall Law Center for Policy and Research, "The statistic was endorsed by a Senate Minority Report issued June 26, 2007, which cites a media outlet, CNN. CNN, in turn, named the DoD [Department of Defense] as its source. The '30' number, however, was corrected in a DoD press release issued in July 2007, and a DoD document submitted to the House Foreign Relations Committee on May 20, 2008, abandons the claim entirely."

(snip)

Professor Mark Denbeaux, director of the Seton Hall Center, said, Scalia "was relying uncritically on information that originated with a party in the case before him."

Note the "Senate minority report" -- GOP senators. I think this ties back to the issue in the diary rather well.

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by: JimC @ Wed Jun 25, 2008 at 09:53:23 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Blame Sununu and Gregg (4.00 / 4)

I think this is old news - didn't the Globe do a report on the refusal to hire the best qualified, that top tier students were being rejected in favor of lower ranked students from  ideologically conservative schools?  About time there was an investigation into the lowering of academic standards in hiring - affirmatve action for the radical right.

It is a disgrace, but when you have no accountability or oversight from the legislative branch, what else can we expect?  When the Republicans controlled congress, the majority - including Sununu and Gregg - allowed Bush and his minions to get away with murder. I would not be surprised if it was common knowledge that the adminsitration was stacking the deck with ideological heres throughout the entire government.  It will take years to clean house. If anyone bumps into John Sununu, ask him what he was doing when the government was turning its back on hiring the best applicants.

Energy and persistence conquer all things.

Benjamin Franklin

I'm a strategist for the NH Coordinated Campaign

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by: Kathy Sullivan @ Tue Jun 24, 2008 at 21:17:31 PM CDT

You had me at "Blame Sununu and Gregg", lol (0.00 / 0)

Seriously, though, what scares me is that they hire people like Monica Goodling right out of Brainwash Regent University or Theocracy Liberty University, you know what I'm talking about.

Is it any wonder that an administration that hires high-ranking national government officials out of quasi-educational radical institutions like that sent an ice cream truck driver to reopen the stock exchange of a country he knew nothing about?

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by: Douglas E. Lindner @ Tue Jun 24, 2008 at 23:57:53 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

don't forget Pepperdine Law (0.00 / 0)

Kenny Star's place

This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.

   Dorothy Parker

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by: JonnyBBad @ Wed Jun 25, 2008 at 22:22:07 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Despite that great flaw, Pepperdine is a respectable university. (0.00 / 0)

Regent, Liberty, Bob Jones...those are not comparable to Pepperdine.

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by: Douglas E. Lindner @ Wed Jun 25, 2008 at 23:31:36 PM CDT

[ Parent ]