the political nature of the mess at justice

Well what do you know? Not only were the Republican apparatchiks at Justice firing political appointees for insufficient commitment to the Party (i.e., for not being enthusiastic enough in suppressing the vote among likely Democratic populations), they were also applying ideological and political tests to hiring CAREER employees at Justice. Monica Goodling, did you realize that was illegal? Didn't Regent University Law School cover that particular bit of ground?

Do you see a pattern here? This isn't about Gonzales' incompetence. This isn't about rearranging political appointees for the President's pleasure. This is about burrowing in at Justice to ensure that a permanent cadre of Party members (with shiny Federalist Society plaques in their home offices) remain to promulgate permanent Party control.

Where else in the Federal bureaucracy is this sort of illegal activity underway? I see no reason to assume this is purely a Justice problem, although clearly Justice would be a key agency for this sort of thing...