Justice Scandal

[Whomp]

As a conservative I have to say this bothers me immensely.

TV preacher Pat Robertson’s Regent University boasts that 150 of its graduates, including former top DoJ aide 33 year old Monica Goodling, are serving in some capacity in the Bush administration.

http://www.regent.edu/general/about_us/facts.cfm

This is a huge number for a 29-year-old school with an accredited law school since 1996.
A huge number for any university which is ranked a "tier four" school by US News & World Report.

They're hiring more graduates than any of the top universities in the country?

Seven years ago, 60 percent of the class of 1999 -- Goodling's class -- failed the bar exam on the first attempt. To top it off this Monica girl is only thirty freakin' three years old and she's got this job?
Meritocracy? Accountability? Can anyone justify this?

This scares me.

 

[JollyRoger]

That's part of why this story has legs. The U.S. Attorneys serve at the pleasure of the President. If you believe the President, he delegated deciding what his pleasure was to Alberto Gonzales. Gonzales delegated it to a bunch of 30-somethings, many from tier 4 evagelicaversities. These 30 somethings, many who have only nominal or no trial experience, created fancy spreadsheets which helped them decide which USA's were loyal bushies or not, which in turn determined if they were underperforming or not.

 

[Little Raven]

As a conservative I have to say this bothers me immensely.

Or maybe conservative just doesn't mean what it used to.

 

[JerichoHill]

well im happy that for once my office isnt involved in anything juicy

 

[El_Machinae]

Seven years ago, 60 percent of the class of 1999 -- Goodling's class -- failed the bar exam on the first attempt.

Holy Smokes. That school must be supported by more than just Alumni!

 

[Rik Meleet]

As a conservative I have to say this bothers me immensely.

TV preacher Pat Robertson’s Regent University boasts that 150 of its graduates, including former top DoJ aide 33 year old Monica Goodling, are serving in some capacity in the Bush administration.

http://www.regent.edu/general/about_us/facts.cfm

This is a huge number for a 29-year-old school with an accredited law school since 1996.
A huge number for any university which is ranked a "tier four" school by US News & World Report.

They're hiring more graduates than any of the top universities in the country?

Seven years ago, 60 percent of the class of 1999 -- Goodling's class -- failed the bar exam on the first attempt. To top it off this Monica girl is only thirty freakin' three years old and she's got this job?
Meritocracy? Accountability? Can anyone justify this?

This scares me.

I remember you bragging about America being a Meritocracy and me laughing in your face. Go search and you'll find more indications that those days are long gone. The sad thing is that the change has gone unnoticed and is probably irreversable.

 

[Che Guava]

ooooh...that makes me feel a little ill...

I get the sense that when Bush leaves, no matter who takes his place, he will set forth an avalanche of morons from the whitehouse...whether he means to or not, his administration seems to be a lynchpin holding up an entire network of incompetency...

unless......Jeb's not seeking the R nomination right....? RIGHT.....!??

 

[Whomp]

I remember you bragging about America being a Meritocracy and me laughing in your face. Go search and you'll find more indications that those days are long gone. The sad thing is that the change has gone unnoticed and is probably irreversable.

We were talking about from a business perspective not political. The fact that the cultural right is capturing 150 jobs has not gone unnoticed and will be a problem for Mr. Gonzalez. He should resign since this will be his unraveling.

 

[JollyRoger]

We were talking about from a business perspective not political. The fact that the cultural right is capturing 150 jobs has not gone unnoticed and will be a problem for Mr. Gonzalez. He should resign since this will be his unraveling.

From a business perspective, I could not imagine a large American law firm even hiring a Pat Robertson law school grad or if they did, it would be someone at the very top of the class with other merit items on their resume. Also, I could not imagine the Managing Partner of a large American law firm delegating to a bunch of 30 somethings the task of deciding which partners get to stay or go, which is the equivalent of what happened in this case, if you believe the Attorney General.

 

[El_Machinae]

We were talking about from a business perspective not political. The fact that the cultural right is capturing 150 jobs has not gone unnoticed and will be a problem for Mr. Gonzalez. He should resign since this will be his unraveling.

You need to fire all the people that got Mr. Gonzalez hired, too. And not just a few people, but the network of people who foisted him on you guys.

 

[Bamspeedy]

TV preacher Pat Robertson’s Regent University boasts that 150 of its graduates, including former top DoJ aide 33 year old Monica Goodling, are serving in some capacity in the Bush administration.

http://www.regent.edu/general/about_us/facts.cfm

This is a huge number for a 29-year-old school with an accredited law school since 1996.

150 out of 1800 isn't all that impressive.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Office_of_the_President

The current figures for the EOP are about 1,800 full-time equivalent employees.

Regent has more than 5,000 students in nine academic schools, two campuses and distance education reaching around the globe.

It's not just a law school.
http://www.regent.edu/acad/

A huge number for any university which is ranked a "tier four" school by US News & World Report.

It is ranked a "tier two" according to this site:
http://www.lawschool100.com/
It claims to be based on qualitative instead of quantitative criteria, but I still think ranking colleges is foolish and susceptible to so much manipulation of statistics.

They're hiring more graduates than any of the top universities in the country?

It helps having a campus right in D.C. and another one nearby in Virginia. But I think it has alot to do with this:

Not long ago, it was rare for Regent graduates to join the federal government. But in 2001, the Bush administration picked the dean of Regent's government school, Kay Coles James, to be the director of the Office of Personnel Management - essentially the head of human resources for the executive branch. The doors of opportunity for government jobs were thrown open to Regent alumni.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041007N.shtml

You can blame Bush for hiring Kay Coles James as personnel director, but I think much of the hiring after that can be blamed on the guy who did most of the hiring (Kay Coles James).
If the personnel director had been from Tulane, I suspect there would be a higher proportionate of students from Tulane getting job opportunities.

Seven years ago, 60 percent of the class of 1999 -- Goodling's class -- failed the bar exam on the first attempt.

Just because her class was bad, doesn't mean she was. (Note: I am not saying that this incident that happened now with the justices was right).
She already got her B.A. from a different school and went to Regent for her J.D.

 

[JollyRoger]

150 out of 1800 isn't all that impressive.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Office_of_the_President.

Yes it is, considering how many better universities are out there and how many people gun for these positions as resume builders.

You can blame Bush for hiring Kay Coles James as personnel director, but I think much of the hiring after that can be blamed on the guy who did most of the hiring (Kay Coles James).

If the personnel director had been from Tulane, I suspect there would be a higher proportionate of students from Tulane getting job opportunities.

At least Tulane has a quality reputation. Still, there has never been such a high concentration of people from such as low quality school. And given that it's Pat Robertson's law school, it is no coincidence. He brings out the vote and instead of getting anything done on the issues (think abortion, Constitutional Amendments), Bushco instead gives resume builders to Pat Robertson's graduates, thus artificially upping the prestige of Pat Robertson's university. People are spending time and money on Pat Robertson's chosen political candidates, but instead of getting political results, you are getting results that tie more directly to Pat Robertson only.

Just because her class was bad, doesn't mean she was. (Note: I am not saying that this incident that happened now with the justices was right).
She already got her B.A. from a different school and went to Regent for her J.D.

Her undrergrad was at some university called Messiah. The position she held is normally held by someone with a lot more experience. That prevents them from screwing up to the extent that they have to start pleading the 5th Amendment and resigning. The only reason you put a inexperienced person in that position is that you want someone timid enough to be a yesman or yeswoman and dumb enough to take the fall for you when things go wrong.

 

[Phlegmak]

As a conservative I have to say this bothers me immensely.

TV preacher Pat Robertson’s Regent University boasts that 150 of its graduates, including former top DoJ aide 33 year old Monica Goodling, are serving in some capacity in the Bush administration.

http://www.regent.edu/general/about_us/facts.cfm

This is a huge number for a 29-year-old school with an accredited law school since 1996.
A huge number for any university which is ranked a "tier four" school by US News & World Report.

They're hiring more graduates than any of the top universities in the country?

Seven years ago, 60 percent of the class of 1999 -- Goodling's class -- failed the bar exam on the first attempt. To top it off this Monica girl is only thirty freakin' three years old and she's got this job?
Meritocracy? Accountability? Can anyone justify this?

This scares me.

Meritocracy? No.

Christianocracy? Yes.

This perfectly matches the Executive branch's practices for the last 6 years. Conservative Christians are the ones they want.

 

[Whomp]

150 of 1800 students sounds unprecedented to me and we're not talking Georgetown, Northwestern or Harvard. The biggest issue I have with this is 10-20 years down the line. These jobs are excellent resume-builders that will lend credibility when these kids come up for elections or other appointments. Add to that the hub, spoke and wheel (multiplying effect) network they can end up influencing down the road. This can not stand and I'm hopeful this will take hold today because crap rolls downhill in my world.

Conservatives to Bush: Fire Gonzales
In what could prove an embarrassing new setback for embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on the eve of his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, a group of influential conservatives and longtime Bush supporters has written a letter to the White House to call for his resignation.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1610738,00.html

 

[Phlegmak]

150 of 1800 students sounds unprecedented to me and we're not talking Georgetown, Northwestern or Harvard. The biggest issue I have with this is 10-20 years down the line. These jobs are excellent resume-builders that will lend credibility when these kids come up for elections or other appointments. Add to that the hub, spoke and wheel (multiplying effect) network they can end up influencing down the road. This can not stand and I'm hopeful this will take hold today because crap rolls downhill in my world.

No, I think we can all look forward to a Christianocracy world. Thanks, Dubya.

 

[MobBoss]

ooooh...that makes me feel a little ill...

I get the sense that when Bush leaves, no matter who takes his place, he will set forth an avalanche of morons from the whitehouse...whether he means to or not, his administration seems to be a lynchpin holding up an entire network of incompetency...

unless......Jeb's not seeking the R nomination right....? RIGHT.....!??

Regardless of what you may think of Bush, its a huge logical fallacy to assume these folks are morons for the simple reason they graduated from Regent University.

I think Bam hit the nail on the head when he showed that the director of personnel is a Regent alum. I dont think I have ever met a person that wouldnt give their fellow alums higher consideration than other like qualified individuals.

While I dont condone such hiring practices it doesnt bother me to the point of worry either. As in most things, I think there is a logical explanation and I think Bam has done that well.

 

[JollyRoger]

I think Bam hit the nail on the head when he showed that the director of personnel is a Regent alum. I dont think I have ever met a person that wouldnt give their fellow alums higher consideration than other like qualified individuals.

In most cases, there are better qualified candidates than Pat Robertson grads based simply on experience alone. The executive branch of the U.S. government is running a super power, not a Sunday school.

 

[El_Machinae]

Just because her class was bad, doesn't mean she was. (Note: I am not saying that this incident that happened now with the justices was right).
She already got her B.A. from a different school and went to Regent for her J.D.

It doesn't imply that she was bad, but it might imply that the quality of schooling she received was subpar.

If our graduating class had such a failure rate, there would be a stink. I'm pretty sure that only ~10% of this (half) year's bar writers failed. (The bar exams twice a year, and so we've only had one writing so far)

 

[JollyRoger]

It doesn't imply that she was bad, but it might imply that the quality of schooling she received was subpar.

If our graduating class had such a failure rate, there would be a stink. I'm pretty sure that only ~10% of this (half) year's bar writers failed. (The bar exams twice a year, and so we've only had one writing so far)

For the July 1999 bar exam, the worst school in Texas had a 59% passage rate. Pat Robertson U's40% passage rate is beyond pathetic.

 

[bhsup]

Y'all finally wishing Ashcroft hadn't left?