From The Seattle PI
By Joel Connelly

If Attorney General Alberto Gonzales steps foot in the federal courthouse while visiting Seattle on Wednesday, it’ll be akin to a teenager entering a high school that he just vandalized.

Our city’s federal bench has been home to first-rate, non-ideological judges, regardless of who held power in Washington, D.C. Cool, professional U.S. attorneys, of both parties, have prosecuted difficult cases.

Six months ago, a politically driven Justice Department under Gonzales fired one of those U.S. attorneys — John McKay — because of his professionalism and resistance to pressure.

Gonzales violated what our courthouse represents, as well as the independent legal-judicial system, which is the key check on power in the American government.

In a 1994 alumni banquet speech at the UW Law School, the late U.S. District Judge William Dwyer quoted a famous gloomy line from Yeats — “Things fall apart; the center cannot hold.”

He then suggested that America has a “center” that holds the country together. “That center is the rule of law,” Dwyer said. “By the rule of law, I do not just mean law and order, although that is important, but much more.

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