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In the immortal words of President Nixon: "Let me make this perfectly clear."

When I wrote recently that it was inappropriate for Albuquerque's Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson to call then-New Mexico U.S. Attorney David Iglesias in the midst of a heated election, I meant just that. The appearance of using the justice system for a political end has made for misery all around.

Spin it however you want today, the issue isn't about White House adviser Karl Rove or Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

The plotline of direct interest to citizens flows pretty much like this:

Wilson was starring in one of her typical, razor's-edge election productions. Since she was first elected in 1998, the Democratic National Committee has habitually declared her a target every two years and has loosed the hounds on her.

For whatever reason, her campaigns always manage to keep it close. This year, however, with incumbent Republicans in Congress facing election disasters not even special agent Jack Bauer could arrest, Wilson's race against Democrat Patricia Madrid was tighter than usual.

So no matter what was said or wasn't said, implied or not, the timing of the October calls from Domenici and Wilson to Iglesias was going to stink up the joint when the ax fell on Iglesias' job.

One imagines the aroma of panic wafting over the fiber-optic lines, growing more pungent with the odor of Wilson-might-lose-if-something-nasty-doesn't-come-out-of-the-U.S.-Attorney's-Office. Learning that Iglesias wasn't added to the Justice Department's must-fire list until after the October calls only adds to the stench.

That said, there remains an overarching element to the larger - what Democrats in the Senate want to call - scandal. Does the Justice Department - read: White House - have the right to fire their political appointees when they desire?

The answer is yes. Still, the newly moderate New York Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a candidate for president, has a petition rolling around the Internet demanding Gonzales' resignation. Given what Clinton observed during her days as president - er, first lady - during the 1990s, her indignation and her petition seem almost comical.

Shortly after he took office in 1993, President Clinton had his attorney general, Janet Reno, ax every U.S. attorney from sea to shining sea. Ninety-three U.S. attorneys were pink-slipped.

Outcry from the Senate? Not a peep. Media outrage? Come on. This is the same group that gave Reno and Clinton a pass on the massacre at Waco. To Clinton's and Reno's credit, however, no U.S. attorneys died during their mass purge.

President Clinton set an ugly precedent for firing U.S. attorneys. Period. He also set the stage for today's headlines.

But the calls from Domenici and Wilson gave the appearance of powerful people using their offices to get a little justice done for their own benefit. Attempts to spin this into a case of poor job performance are as duplicitous as Hillary Clinton's petition.