My last post not withstanding, the U.S. Attorney scandal is not about broken laws. It’s not about the executive branch of government exercising power it does not have. For me, it’s about abuse of power. This is the reason this scandal has an air of Watergate about it.

Conservative bloggers are mostly correct on at least one point: there are no smoking guns. There are no emails, no sworn testimony, no documents… nothing that draws a straight and invulnerable line between the President, the Attorney General, and questionable deeds. However, the saying “where there’s smoke there’s fire” is pertinent.

A group of prosecutors were involved in investigations with political implications – investigations which could have swayed elections (in what was perhaps the most bitterly fought mid-term election in the last thirty years) – were fired (or asked to resign) after the election was lost (depending on your perspective), and after they did not pick the most politically advantageous avenue for their investigations (for the folks that lost).

Seen in a vacuum, without reference to political party affiliation or subsequent explanation – you’ve just got to admit there’s a little smoke in this picture. There may be perfectly reasonable explanations for the firings (once you get below the surface)… but the suggestion that Democrats are on a baseless fishing expedition is crazy – or at least spectacularly disingenuous. Had the tables been turned, Republicans would be all over this like spittle on a pulpit after a sermon on Revelations.

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I think the main reason I make a lousy southerner is my pure hatred for fishing. The only worse sin MIGHT be indifference to NASCAR – but auto racing is not my metaphor du jour.

What good reason is there for fishing anyway? You sit there for hours casting a line in the water and reeling it back in – like some kind of failed stimulus-response experiment. Hell, even mice stop pressing the cheese button if they don’t get… well… cheese. But fishermen? They’ll toss that line with the loving care of virtuoso pianist… like the cast is sufficient ends in and of itself. You know what? Every now and again some fishermen actually catch fish. Imagine that!

By now everyone with a radio or a television has heard the name Gonzales more often than you hear “Sweet Jesus” on a fishing show. For a couple weeks now there have been a lot of Republicans who think this is much ado about nothing. “Heck, no one’s saying any laws were broken, right?” Ah, hold that thought.

Monica Goodling, an aide to Alberto Gonzales, has refused to testify in front of a Senate hearing – citing her fifth amendment right to protect herself from incriminating remarks. Republicans were right… no one was talking seriously about any laws being broken in connection with the U.S. Attorney firing scandal… until now.

Do you suppose this qualifies as smoke, and if so, what do you suppose is burning?