It’s not like he replaced her with a more qualified woman.

It’s not like the man he scavenged from the dwindling heap of loyalists is marginally better than she proved herself to be.

It’s not like there’s going to be a noticeable change in competence or temperature at the head of the Department of Justice.

But I’m smiling nonetheless. Because even though the successor won’t be very different, at least a truly awful female will be ousted from the office she obtained through ovarian merit.

Which is to say, she’s another lady who said the things President Trump wanted to hear, and he rewarded her richly, if temporarily.

Pamela Bondi, former attorney general of Florida, former personal attorney of the formerly impeached former and current president, former a lot of things, is now former attorney general of the United States.

And that’s because she was simply terrible. There is no way to make this political.

Conservatives must admit, even those MAGA loyalists currently battling one another on the “Israel Is The Problem” vs “We Need To Vanquish Iran” battleground, that it’s a blessing she’s gone.

Nothing that Bondi did, absolutely nothing, was noteworthy.

She looked like an idiot toting the Epstein binders. She was combative and unprofessional before an admittedly hostile Congress.

She eviscerated protections for immigrants with a heavy hand in regulatory decisions and was a frequent defendant in habeas petitions won by immigration lawyers, including yours truly.

Bondi, whose lineage, like my own, includes the pride of Italy, just couldn’t hack it.

And it’s a shame, because in her former incarnation as a state prosecutor, she was excellent.

But when she became President Trump’s personal avenger, initiating prosecutions against his former political enemies with little to no basis, and when she made it quite clear that the White House was her client, not the aggrieved citizens of the United States and not noncitizens who were still entitled to protection under our Constitution, she became another footnote like former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

But that’s not really fair. I remember when Bondi was picked after Trump was justifiably attacked for nominating former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz for attorney general.

I still believe she was the better choice, in the way that lethal injection is preferable to electrocution. There was at least a scintilla of quality there, and she had no history of sexual misconduct.

I also believe that her current partner eschews women’s clothing.

Which brings me to why I’m angry.

Trump prizes loyalty. He believes that this is the most important quality of all, and I suppose it derives from his early tutelage by Roy Cohn and then the revolving door of employees during his first term.

I prize loyalty as well. But when I am a public official paid by public monies and charged with protecting public rights or executing public duties, loyalty is to the, um, public.

It is to due process, the Constitution and our institutions and if that puts you in your supervisor’s crosshairs, you choose your ethical duties, not your boss’s high opinion.

Sadly, Pam couldn’t figure it out.

Neither could Kristi, who engaged in cowboy cosplay for Trump and nearly destroyed DHS with her incompetence.

Neither could the slew of U.S. attorney wannabes like Alina and Lindsey, who are better suited to Mar-A-Lago than Marbury vs. Madison.

I am a woman and a professional. I am an American citizen. I am a conservative who believes that laws are meant to be obeyed, not considered suggestions.

The thought that these women were chosen for their looks and their gender as opposed to their resumes is as repellent to me now, when it’s done to advance so-called conservative goals, as it is when liberals started the whole DEI crap.

Trump has appointed some great women, including Amy Coney Barrett. Ironically, she has provoked the ire of Trump and his loyalists by not using her judicial vote as a “get out of jail free” card for him often enough.

And that’s why she is head and shoulders above the motley crew in his current cabinet.

So I’m not weeping for Pam. I’m sure the president will find another X-Men-sounding job for her as he did for Kristi, something like “Guardian of the Everglades” or “Duchess of the Dow.”

And to my Italian sister, I say, with affection, ciao.

Copyright 2026 Christine Flowers