George Bush Countdown: 5 Days

5 days to go! Here is #5...

The Justice Department

A lot of whacky shit went on in the Justice Department, too much to cover here. First of all, the first Attorney General had just been defeated in a Senate race in Missouri by a dead man before he was appointed by Bush, and for good reason. John Ashcroft is a a little religious freak. Remember when he had the Spirit of Justice statue covered because it showed some statue boobs?

In 2004, John Ashcroft was gravely ill, some thought he could die. Around this same time the administration was trying to get approval for the domestic surveillance program that the Justice Department had previously declared illegal. White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales and White House Chief of Staff went to Ashcroft's sick bed to get his signature to approve the program. Luckily, Ashcroft's deputy got wind of the situation, got the FBI involved, and got to Ashcroft's room in time. Ashcroft refused to sign after speaking with his deputy. Of course it wasn't too long before Ashcroft was out and Alberto Gozales was the new Attorney General.

Then...then the real fun began. Gonzales will likely be known as one of the most incompetent AGs ever, and his predecessor was pretty pathetic.

After the 2006 midterm elections 7 U.S. Attorneys were fired by the Bush administration. Such a move is not illegal at all. However, the reasons behind the firings...well, actually, they fit perfectly into this 8 year corruption and cronyism fest we've all been witness to. All of the 7 were either involved in cases investigating Republican corruption or failed to investigate alleged corruption by Democrats (keep in mind these U.S. Attorneys were all political appointees by the Bush administration and thus, presumably, Republicans).

One more thing..Monica Goodling...she was the Justice Department employee who screened potential career Federal Prosecutors (those not appointed and then expected to be replaced with new administrations). She screened out qualified candidates who had any suspected connections to Democratic or left-leaning causes.

This doesn't really even touch the DOJs role in the Patriot Act and torture...No Justice.