Editorial: Good riddance

Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2007 | 9:01 a.m.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Monday did what he should have done months ago - turned in his resignation.

When Gonzales leaves next month his legacy will be one of failure. His tenure at the Justice Department has been marred by scandals, ineptitude and exceedingly low morale. Calls for his resignation came from both Democrats and Republicans months ago as Congress unraveled his inept handling of the firing of several U.S. attorneys.

The congressional investigation has provided a window into the Bush administration's Justice Department, showing Gonzales as a willing accomplice to the White House's political tinkering with even the basic operations of investigations and prosecutions.

Gonzales filled his staff with young partisans who illegally screened applicants for civil service jobs based on their political affiliations and sharpened the ax for prosecutors who didn't prosecute Democrats before the 2006 election.

As attorney general, Gonzales was not the nation's chief law enforcement official as much as he was a Bush administration lawyer trying to defend dubious actions instead of administering the law.

Nowhere was that more clear than when he testified before Congress. His testimony showed him to be either incompetent or duplicitous - or both. It was a pathetic performance for an attorney general sworn to uphold the Constitution.

Because of the president's misplaced loyalty to his friend from Texas, Gonzales remained, which prolonged the agony in the Justice Department. Gonzales dragged the department with him through his political scandals, shifting much-needed attention away from anti-terrorism and other more important and pressing matters.

Unfortunately, the White House has let this problem fester, and that has hurt Americans' confidence in the justice system. In replacing Gonzales, the White House should reach out to Congress to find someone with wide bipartisan support who can reverse Gonzales' tarnished legacy and restore dignity to the Justice Department.