The uproar over the firing of eight federal attorneys is all about the politics, and Democrats are playing the game just as cynically as the GOP. Presidents hire and fire U.S. attorneys; there was a big turnover when Clinton took office, too.

But while politics may influence how presidents and members of Congress do their jobs, U.S. attorneys are supposed to weigh the decision of whether or not to prosecute a case more objectively.

To do otherwise — prosecuting because the White House wants a scalp, even if they can't make a winnable case — wastes time, money and the credibility of the U.S. Department of Justice.

This badly handled affair happened in mid-term and on Alberto Gonzales' watch, but the president doesn't seem willing to have the attorney general, his former personal attorney, fall on his sword.

So that leaves the Bush administration with questions to answer about this. Bush has made chief political aide Karl Rove and former White House counsel Harriet Miers available to do so.

There's no real reason it couldn't be a private discussion with congressional leaders, at least to start with. But the insistence that Miers and Rove speak off the record, without being sworn in, is disturbing. What does the White House have to hide?

The Democratic majority and the administration are drawing their respective lines in the sand, each side playing to its political base.

There have been hints that a compromise is brewing. That's good. Perhaps a deal can be struck, within limits.

Even if the president makes the case that personnel issues need to be discussed behind closed doors, Rove and Miers must be held accountable for their words.

The condition that it be off the record and not under oath is a deal-breaker, however you cut it.