Senators need to ask Kevin O'Connor, nominee to be third-ranking offical at Justice, about his abuse of the Patriot Act with librarians

A scathing op-ed in today's Hartford Courant gives background on George Bush's nominee to be the third ranking official at the Department of Justice, Kevin O'Connor. Most interesting, the denunciation of O'Connor was written by a Connecticut Republican. O'Connor demonstrated the excesses of the Bush administration in a case he brought -- and lost -- against Connecticut librarians under the Patriot Act. Yes, librarians:

The test of whether an official is worthy of power is how he exercises it when the law shuts out public scrutiny. Connecticut U.S. Attorney Kevin O'Connor failed that test in 2005 when he thought no one was looking at his abuse of the USA Patriot Act. His own incompetence, however, allowed light to shine on his battle in the shadows against four upright Connecticut librarians.

The U.S. Senate can take a stand for individual liberty by rejecting President Bush's nomination of O'Connor to a high-ranking position in the Justice Department that includes overseeing the enforcement of civil rights.

O'Connor not only lost the case, he made a mockery of the proceeding. Read the op-ed. O'Connor fits the mold of a loyal Bushie who has no regard for civil liberties. We've had enough of those types.

There's more after the break.

The Senate should also ask him about his letter to Ron Kaufman (You know his name. He's the lobbyist who is with Mitt Romney all the time even though Mitt doesn't have lobbyists in his campaign.):

O'Connor had foreshadowed his taste for mixing law enforcement and political ambition in a letter he had sent to Washington Republican operative Ron Kaufman at the beginning of the George W. Bush administration, seeking help in snagging the U.S. attorney job in Connecticut. He saw the job as a gate to higher office: "Simply put, there is no better position for me to occupy before a statewide run for office than United States Attorney," he wrote. Senators may want a copy of that letter. It reveals more about O'Connor than the 50-page questionnaire he provided the committee. If members of the Senate really do worry about shrouded abuses that occur under the Patriot Act, this is the time to prove it. The Judiciary Committee holds a hearing on O'Connor's nomination Tuesday. It can punish, not promote, an official who engaged in an abuse of his office while claiming the nation's security was at risk.

O'Connor is so hungry for higher office, he was willing to trample the civil rights of librarians. He should be working for Cheney.