Double Duty

Remember when the big reason for firing David Iglesias was that he was an "absentee landlord," because he spent 40 days a year in the Naval Reserve?

Well oh boy, does it go from bad to worse over at Justice.

A half-dozen sitting U.S. attorneys also serve as aides to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales or are assigned other Washington postings, performing tasks that take them away from regular duties in their districts for months or even years at a time, according to officials and department records.

Acting Associate Attorney General William W. Mercer, for example, has been effectively absent from his job as U.S. attorney in Montana for nearly two years -- prompting the chief federal judge in Billings to demand his removal and call Mercer's office "a mess."

Another U.S. attorney, Michael J. Sullivan of Boston, has been in Washington for the past six months as acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He is awaiting confirmation to head the agency permanently while still juggling his responsibilities in Massachusetts.

These are the most loyal of the loyal Bushies, who are the only ones to be trusted with these key positions. Of course, if they weren't loyal enough, and spending 10 minutes extra on their lunch hour out of the office, then they were presiding over chaos because of their rampant absenteeism.

The whole that Justice has dug is bigger than the building that houses them, at this point.