AS a former Justice Department official, I have been inundated lately with questions from friends, family and acquaintances about Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Should he stay or should he go? To some extent, I think that’s the wrong question.

As for the current matter, involving the dismissal of several United States attorneys, the fact is that the president is entitled to fire the people in those jobs without cause. As far as we know, no crime has been committed. Mr. Gonzales is being accused not of criminal conduct but of ineptitude. But the issue raised by this highly unfortunate set of circumstances transcends the question of the present attorney general’s tenure.

There is no doubt that the confidence of the American public in the ability of the department to administer justice evenhandedly has been badly shaken, and the morale at the department has been significantly eroded. Why? Because the overall perception, right or wrong, is that the department is highly political and that when Mr. Gonzales left his job at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to become attorney general at 10th and Constitution, he did not appreciate that he had truly changed jobs.

Whatever happens to Mr. Gonzales, the taint will remain. That’s why the only real solution is to depoliticize the Justice Department, to do away with the appearance of anyone playing politics there.