From Pine View Farm

More Monica Goodlings 0

The Current Federal Administration’s efforts to turn “justice” into politics as manifested in the selection of interns:

Here is the gravamen of the charge against Elston offered by the letter writers: “Most of those struck from the (prospective intern–ed.) list had interned for a Hill Democrat, clerked for a Democratic judge, worked for a ‘liberal’ cause, or otherwise appeared to have ‘liberal’ leanings. Summa cum laude graduates of both Yale and Harvard were rejected for interviews….” And here is their rationale for complaining: “While it might be said that whoever wins an election can do the hiring, this new hiring procedure is contrary to Department of Justice tradition. The Department represents the entire country and has always had attorneys from a variety of schools and political leanings. There should be no litmus test for a top law student to get an interview at the Department of Justice.”

So, what is the problem here?

The problem is that, if Justice is indeed to be blind–that is, respecting of the Law and not respecting of persons, those who administer Justice must be selected prinarily on the basis of honesty and competence, not on the basis of political allegiance. Certainly, political allegiance may be part of the criteria, but it must be a secondary, not the primary part.

Otherwise you get employees who, when asked to talk of their actions, find themselves invoking the Fifth Amendment.

The practice of politics is important and necessary.

But it is a means. When practiced by persons of honor, it is the path and method and struggle for good governance.

When practiced by those without honor, it becomes the exercise of power for the sake of power, dominance for the sake of dominance.

It’s time to say, “Enough!

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