It's the time of year when things should slow down, become more peaceful, more thoughtful. But politics - and politics in its worst form - intrudes and will not let go.

Locally, after managing to hold onto control of the County Legislature in the November elections, Republicans promised bipartisanship. But it didn't take long for them to show their colors.

Equating immigrants with terrorists during the Lej campaign was bad enough. Now we have the Legislature Republicans insisting that they must control the process as we look for a new public defender.

The public defender's office represents the poorest defendants in the criminal-justice system. The quality of their defense is dependent on the quality of the lawyers representing them.

Throughout New York State, says former County Executive Tom Frey - who now chairs the board of the New York Civil Liberties Union - there are "horrendous" quality problems in public defenders' offices - so much so that the NYCLU is suing the state.

The Monroe County public defender's office "has been considered one of the bright spots," says Frey.

If the local office doesn't handle cases professionally, says Frey, "it's not a question of whether it will go bad but when."

And why would we think cases wouldn't be handled professionally if politicians - regardless of their party - picked the public defender?

Patronage.

If the public defender wanted to, or felt pressured to, he or she could fill the office with politicians' friends, putting them on the payroll and setting them up for pensions and other benefits. The hiring of everybody from secretaries to attorneys could be based on political connections rather than qualifications.

Surely no public official in Monroe County would do such a thing.

But back in the 1970's, a history of patronage caused lawyers, community leaders, and religious leaders to insist on a non-political selection process for the public defender. The last two public defenders have been chosen by an independent committee - lawyers, judges, and community representatives.

Now, Republican County Legislators want to turn back the clock. They want a committee to handle the search and selection, but Legislature President Wayne Zyra is appointing the vast majority of the eight committee members. Zyra himself would be a member, as would the county attorney and someone appointed by the Legislature's (Republican) majority leader. Two committee members are judges, but they're Zyra's selection. The remaining members: one appointed by the Lej's minority leader (a Democrat) and two appointed by the Bar Association (which has pulled out of the process in protest).

In truth, unless both judges voted with the Republican officials on the committee, the Republicans would have a hard time controlling the selection. But Bar Association leaders and other community leaders are worried.

And I'm just plain suspicious. This is a Republican Party known for its partisanship and for its hardball politics. Note attorney Tom Hampson's letter this week, on the history of the first Fair Campaign Practices Committee. The group was established to help keep local political campaigns fair, and, one hopes, civil. It was founded by the Monroe County Republican and Democratic Parties.

But years later, the Republican Party pulled out of the process.

This is the party that sent the mailer accusing County Legislature Democrats of being soft on terrorism. And this is the party whose legislators want to run the public-defender search process.

The Bar Association, religious leaders (including Bishop Matthew Clark), and community representatives want a non-partisan group to choose the next public defender. If County Legislature Republicans were interested in earning the public's trust, they'd embrace that idea.

Why do they insist on being involved in the selection?

I can think of one reason: because they can. That's childish and mean-spirited.

But I can think of another reason: patronage. And that's worse.