Los Angeles Times
Editorial Page
During the uproar over the firing of nine U.S. attorneys by the Bush administration, an ordinary citizen could be excused for thinking that Democrats opposed any role for partisan politics in the operation of the Justice Department.
That naive notion has been dispelled as President Obama moves to install his own appointees as chief federal prosecutors.
It doesn’t follow that Obama and Eric H. Holder Jr.will countenance the abuses that occurred in the Bush Justice Department, some of which are under criminal investigation. But it demonstrates that, regardless of which party is in power, U.S. attorneys will not be chosen by merit alone.
