Countdown: Turley Breaks Down Gonzo & Goodling

On Thursday's "Countdown" Keith brought in George Washington University Constitutional law professor, Jonathan Turley to discuss Monica Goodling's testimony from Wednesday and it's ramifications for Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales. (Click the pic for the vid.)

Olbermann: "What have we learned about the resume of his top official in Bush law enforcement, other than the fact that we learned that his liason, Ms. Goodling, sounds exactly like Reese Witherspoon's character in Legally Blonde. What's the big resume item here about Gonzales?"

Turley: "Well, see the problem here is that she got a very senior position that usually goes to people with many years of experience and she got it after graduating from Regent's Law School in 1999 without much of a resume to speak of. And so, I think it's plain that she was selected for some other reason. She didn't have a resume, did not have experience, so she was selected, it appears, because of her political purity. Her ability to be what people said she became, a political Kommissar within the administration and she's admitted to playing that role."

SIDEBAR 1: Fewer candidates apply for positions as U.S. attorneys The Bush administration's decision to fire nine U.S. attorneys last year has created a new problem for the White House: The controversy appears to be discouraging applications for some of the 22 prosecutor posts that President Bush needs to fill. Of the nation's 93 U.S. attorneys, 22 are serving without Senate confirmation as interim or acting prosecutors. They represent districts in Alaska, Arizona, California, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, West Virginia and Washington. White House spokesman Tony Fratto said the administration is committed to nominating candidates for all 22 open positions, but so far the administration has submitted only four nominees.

SIDEBAR 2: Immigration judges lack apt backgrounds Over the last two years, U.S. Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales has appointed more than two dozen individuals as federal immigration judges. The new jurists include a former treasurer of the Louisiana Republican Party, who was a legal advisor to the Bush Florida recount team after the 2000 presidential election. There is also a former GOP congressional aide who had tracked voter fraud issues for the Justice Department, and a Texan appointed by then-Gov. George W. Bush to a seat on the state library commission. One thing missing on many of their resumes: a background in immigration law. These lawyers are among a growing number of the nation's more than 200 immigration judges who have little or no experience in the law they were appointed to enforce.