I haven't written anything about this firestorm in a teapot yet, because I'm not sure I have anything to say, but I guess I can express a couple of opinions about certain aspects of the case.
(1) I heard someone say that "this is normal operating procedure; after all, Bill Clinton fired all 93 of his local prosecutors, so the current administration hasn't done anything unusual." Yes, Clinton fired all 93 of his local prosecutors; so, for that matter, did Ronald Reagan. Both men did this at the time they took office, which is indeed SOP, at least when the White House changes parties. On the other hand, firing a big clump of prosecutors in the middle of their period of service is not SOP; it has rarely if ever been done (though I suppose that the occasional prosecutor gets dumped for poor performance).
(2) Alberto Gonzalez, our Attorney-General, seems basically to be saying: "Yes, I'm the guy at the top, so I'm ultimately responsible; but in fact I carefully kept myself out of the loop so I wouldn't know what was going on, therefore please don't hold me accountable, punish my underlings who did the actual drudge work." Does anyone have any use whatsoever for this guy?
(3) The original story was that these were performance-related firings. Unfortunately, some of the fired prosecutors seem to contest any slurs on their performance, and their recent job-performance reviews seem to uphold their positions.
"It has been decided to ... uh ... ask for your resignation," the President announced at last."Save your breath," Kinnison advised. "I came down here to do a job, and the only way you can keep me from doing that job is to fire me."
"That was not ... uh ... entirely unexpected. A difficulty arose, however, in deciding what reason to put on your termination papers."
"I can well believe that. You can put down anything you like," Kinnison shrugged, "with one exception. Any implication of incompetence and you'll have to prove it in court."
Since that time, there's been a whole farrago of nonsense over who in the Justice Department initiated this operation, who carried it out, who in the White House may or may not have taken a hand in the matter, who in the White House may in fact have initiated the matter, etc., etc. We can only hope that Senator Leahy and his companions will, during the coming weeks, get to the truth of the matter to that the rest of us can sleep well o' nights.