Job Hunt

As one who has had some job searches of his own over time, I hate to criticize an unemployed person looking for work, or to point out their difficulty getting hired.

However, in the case of former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, I'll make an exception:

Mr. Gonzales, the former attorney general, who was forced to resign last year, has been unable to interest law firms in adding his name to their roster, Washington lawyers and his associates said in recent interviews.

He has, through friends, put out inquiries, they said, and has not found any takers. What makes Mr. Gonzales’s case extraordinary is that former attorneys general, the government’s chief lawyer, are typically highly sought.

Odd, that! Is it gross incompetence, cronyism, toadyism and lying before Congress that is hurting his employability? Could one say, perhaps, his "laughingstockishness" would be an impediment to any serious law firm hiring Alberto?

“Maybe the passage of time will provide some opportunity for him,” said one Washington lawyer who was aware of an inquiry to his firm from a Gonzales associate. “I wouldn’t say ‘rebuffed,’ ” said the lawyer, who asked his name not be used because the situation being described was uncomfortable for Mr. Gonzales. “I would say ‘not taken up.’ ”

Wow. Nice burn. Can we all start using the euphemism, "Not taken up?"

Even after all this, it's a little surprising. Gonzales is connected with certain people currently in power and likely to be big in their (oil and private defense) industries afterwards. And I'm guessing that these big money law firms aren't exactly virgins when it comes to some of the more twisted machinations of power.

But maybe there's a real deal-killer at the heart of it all:

His conduct is being investigated by the Office of the Inspector General of the Justice Department, which could recommend actions from exonerating him to recommending criminal charges. Friends set up a fund to help pay his legal bills.

That's right. What law firm in its right mind would risk hiring someone who could blemish their practice and possibly be disbarred within the first year at work? Unfortunately for Alberto, the high-powered law firm of O'Moron & Imbecilirig doesn't exist.

Ah, well. Let none ever say that the Cheney(/Bush) Administration hasn't hired the brightest, say, for National Security Advisor.