So good, I’m just going to copy and paste the whole thing:
It’s remarkable. The Bushies quietly got a shiny new Patriot Act power to fire and replace U.S. Attorneys without Senate approval, so they went ahead and used it. Then they got called on it. So how did they react?
Well, they could have just said it was for policy reasons: they wanted people who were on board with administration policies a little more heartily, and these folks didn’t make the grade. So we replaced them.
What would have happened then? A little bit of grumbling, probably. Some complaints that Bush was politicizing the office, perhaps, but since the offices are political appointments in the first place that wouldn’t have gone very far. And the fired official themselves, who are all Republican loyalists in the first place, would have packed their bags and gotten other jobs. They know how politics works.
But no. This administration is so dedicated to spin and deceit that they just couldn’t leave it alone. They figured maybe they could avoid any criticism by claiming the firings were for performance-related reasons. That should shut everyone up! But of course it did just the opposite. The fired attorneys, who were originally willing to suck it up and accept their political fate, were unhappy over being called incompetent. Who wouldn’t be? And so the whole thing unraveled. Now it’s a case of U.S. Attorneys being fired because they were too zealous about prosecuting Republican corruption, and the Department of Justice is reduced to feebly arguing that it’s just a coincidence that so many of the Pearl Harbor Eight were investigating corruption cases.
It’s the Bush administration in a microcosm: a too-clever-by-half expansion of executive power, spin and deceit when it’s discovered, followed by a storm of backtracking and protestations of innocence that no one believes. It wouldn’t be so bad if this weren’t also the Bush administration in a macrocosm. But it is.
the zoooom
I would like to make an argument in defense of Sen. Pete Domenici and Congresswoman Heather Wilson and all the people who got caught in the mess of the fired prosecutors.
Over the last few days I was thinking to myself “how is it possible that the republicans are out of power, but still have so many ethical problems”?
To answer the question, I have to go back to communication…
When the democrats have a problem with an elected official they do their research. They find a small thing they can pin on him, and then make a big noise. They demand an investigation. They demand that the Department of Justice should appoint a ‘special’ prosecutor.
A nice fellow sits at home one night listening to the news, and he hears that Sen. Someone Democrat… is demanding an investigation into Somebody Republican, and not just an investigation, but the Attorney General should appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the alleged crime. What is the first thing that crossed his mind? “A special prosecutor….This is a serious crime”. Now you can come and knock on his door and tell him that the special prosecutor came up with nothing but the only thing he will now likely remember is “this guy is a criminal”. The Republican, under suspicion, is already a shade grey in everyone’s mind. So the democrats get the job done.
What happens if it’s vice versa, and the Democrat is under suspicion?
The Republicans hear that there is a criminal investigation going on involving a Democrat. What do they do? They call (the arrogant, selfish) prosecutor, and ask him (not demand him to investigate) about the investigation… Don’t you think that a phone call to a news reporter is worth more money then to call a prosecutor?
Ultimately, the voters decide who is eligible for office, largely based on ethical behavior. The republican lack of conveying misconduct to the public is a major factor in their current political status, which doesn’t seem to be bettering.
Richard
Ummm. Didn’t Bill Clinton fire all of the U.S. attorneys when he was elected? I seem to remember that. Maybe I’m wrong. And I’m not saying he did the wrong thing. I would appreciate a clarification. But I thought it was the administration’s legal right to do so.