Chilled?

This story, that ran on NPR this week, made my stomach churn with anxiety followed by a chill up the spinal column. Partisan loyalty tests for civil service jobs. Bright young law school graduates turned away because they had belonged to the 'wrong' organization.

Justice Department Politicization Reflects Bush Policy

http://media.npr.org/documents/2008/jun/doj_hiring.pdf

ABC News: No 'Wack Jobs': DOJ Played Politics in Hiring

Here's a choice bit from a 2007 WAPO story when the internal investigation was just beginning:

"In another politically tinged conversation recounted by former colleagues, Schlozman [Bradley Schlozman, then the acting assistant attorney general for civil rights] asked a supervisor if a career lawyer who had voted for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a onetime political rival of President Bush, could still be trusted."

Political Hiring in Justice Division Probed - washingtonpost.com