Seeking Justice ; Gonzales has Bigger Woes Than Prosecutor Flap

Summary

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On Friday we explained why Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should go, and our reasons had nothing to do with the brouhaha over fired prosecutors. In fact, we find that whole circus a distraction from the real problems at the Justice Department. The possibility of abuse of power or obstruction of justice is present in the fired prosecutors fiasco, if the purpose of the firings was to short- circuit investigations. If that turns out to be the case, it would be just another instance of this administration making up the rules as it goes along. And the attorney general is up to his neck in most of the problems.

We've long been troubled by the Bush Justice Department's take on civil liberties and apparent indifference to following the Constitution. Some will defend the administration by pointing out that our nation has a history of restricting civil liberties during wartime. They're factually correct, but that doesn't make such restrictions right. The Fourth Amendment doesn't come with a footnote that allows suspension of our rights in time of war, as the Patriot Act allows.

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Seeking Justice ; Gonzales has Bigger Woes Than Prosecutor Flap

The Patriot Act end-runs many constitutional protections in the name of national security. We warned before it was passed, and several times leading up to its renewal, that it allowed government too much leeway to run roughshod over peop...

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