Post #278,119
3/13/07 8:55:30 AM
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Seems to be holding up
This one seems to be building up quickly. Several attorneys where forced out over a short period. Apparently for different but all political or otherwise bogus reasons.
The raw political partisanship of the move and the number effected at once, combined with Bush's already crumbling support have made this into a real issue. It would not surprise me if this ends up costing Alberto Gonzales his job, though it still has a way to go for that to happen.
The best theory for the whole thing I have seen is that the Bush administration is preparing for possible prosecution by removing prosecuting attorneys that might be used against them and replacing them with party loyalists.
Jay
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Post #278,134
3/13/07 11:20:52 AM
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Josh Marshall has been on this for a while now.
[link|http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/|http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/]
Results from a site search on "attorney general--
[link|http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/mt/mt-search.cgi?search=attorney+general&search.x=11&search.y=11|link]
I would say that Josh Marshal is probably the definitive goto guy on this topic.
-----------------------------------------
Draft Clark [link|http://draftwesleyclark.com/|now].
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Post #278,156
3/13/07 5:49:15 PM
3/13/07 5:59:31 PM
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In today's dead-tree Milw. Journal-Sentinel
There was a story stating that the Berk administration wanted to fire all 93 U.S. Attorneys two years ago. Have been unable to find the link to it up to now...I'll keep looking. The upshot of the article is that, contrary to what they've been saying all along (and this surprises you how?), the Berk administration did have their hands in this for a long time. Edit: From the [link|http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-congress-prosecutors,1,6628932.story?coll=chi-news-hed|Chicago Tribune] WASHINGTON -- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales accepted responsibility Tuesday for mistakes in the way the Justice Department handled the dismissal of eight federal prosecutors but he rejected calls for his resignation.
At a Justice Department news conference, Gonzales said he would find out why Congress was not told sooner that the White House was involved in discussions of who would be fired and when. He did not, however, back away his stance that the dismissals that did take place were appropriate.
"I stand by the decision and I think it was the right decision," Gonzales said.
Democrats in Congress have charged that the eight dismissals announced last December were politically motivated and that some of those ousted have said they felt pressured by powerful Republicans in their home states to rush investigations of potential voter fraud involving Democrats.
Justice Department officials, led by Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, told lawmakers under oath that the decision to fire eight U.S. attorneys in December was made solely by the Justice Department and said the decision was based on performance, not politics.
E-mails released Tuesday, however, revealed that the firings were considered and discussed for two years by Justice Department and White House officials. [emphasis added]
...
A Justice Department official said Tuesday that [Harriet] Miers, in a February 2005 discussion with Sampson, suggested firing all of the U.S. attorneys. Snow described the idea as a move to get fresh faces in the 4-year term jobs, and said that it was not a firm recommendation by Miers.
The e-mails show that [Kyle] Sampson [Gonzales's top aide, who resigned today] rejected the idea to fire all of the prosecutors but spent the next year drawing up a list of potential dismissals. On Jan. 9, 2006, Sampson sent Miers a memo listing what the official described as roughly 10 names of prosecutors who were viewed as underperforming in their jobs. <gun type=smoking /> The question is, does anybody care anymore, or have we all become so inured against the foibles of this "administration" that nothing has the power to rile anymore? jb4
"It's hard for me, you know, living in this beautiful White House, to give you a firsthand assessment."
— George W. Bush, when asked if he believed Iraq was in a state of civil war (Newsweek, 26 Feb 07)
Edited by jb4
March 13, 2007, 05:59:31 PM EDT
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Post #278,180
3/13/07 8:50:34 PM
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A decent apology to Josh from Time's DC bureau chief
[link|http://time-blog.com/swampland/2007/01/running_massacre.html|Jay Carney, 01/17/07]: Of course! It all makes perfect conspiratorial sense! Except for one thing: in this case some liberals are seeing broad partisan conspiracies where none likely exist. [link|http://time-blog.com/swampland/2007/03/note_from_underground_1.html|Jay Carney, 03/02/07] If Iglesias names names, and others tell similar stories, I will take my hat off to Marshall and others in the blogosphere and congratulate them for having been right in their suspicions about this story from the beginning. [link|http://time-blog.com/swampland/2007/03/where_credit_is_due.html|Jay Carney, 03/13/07] My hat is off. Josh Marshall at TalkingPointsMemo and everyone else out there whose instincts told them there was something deeply wrong and even sinister about the firings, and who dug around and kept writing about them while Iglesias decided whether to talk to the press or go quietly on to his next job, deserve tremendous credit.
When this story first surfaced, I thought the Bush White House and Justice Department were guilty of poorly executed acts of crass political patronage. I called some Democrats on the Hill; they were "concerned", but this was not a priority. The blogosphere was the engine on this story, pulling the Hill and the MSM along. As the document dump proves, what happened was much worse than I'd first thought. I was wrong. Very nice work, and thanks for holding my feet to the fire. As someone more patient than I am said in the comments section after this last post, "Jay, a little advice for the next year and a half, though I can't believe you haven't figured it out yet: When it comes to the Bush Administration, assume the worst. It saves time." Of course, none of this will sway the Bush dead-enders, who must be very patient characters, but it will be interesting to see whether the sensibilities of the public have become anywhere near as scorched and numb as those of the Potomac press courtiers. cordially, Die Welt ist alles, was der Fall ist.
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Post #278,144
3/13/07 1:40:28 PM
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new insight into the issue
[link|http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00612F73C540C778EDDAA0894DB494D81&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fC%2fClinton%2c%20Bill|http://select.nytime...Clinton%2c%20Bill]
not the first time,
thanx,
bill
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 51 years. meep
reach me at [link|mailto:bill.oxley@cox.net|mailto:bill.oxley@cox.net]
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Post #278,146
3/13/07 1:53:42 PM
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I don't think it's happend this late in a term before...
That was less than 3 months after Clinton first took office.
Cheers,
Scott.
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Post #278,248
3/14/07 3:59:32 PM
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Along with the fact
that Clinton was following 12 years of Republican administration, so it only made sense that he would want to clean house right after he took office, to purge the leftovers from previous administrations.
Now, if he had waited several years, and then said "I'm going to selectively remove a handful of AGs", well, then you might have a point.
lincoln
"Chicago to my mind was the only place to be. ... I above all liked the city because it was filled with people all a-bustle, and the clatter of hooves and carriages, and with delivery wagons and drays and peddlers and the boom and clank of freight trains. And when those black clouds came sailing in from the west, pouring thunderstorms upon us so that you couldn't hear the cries or curses of humankind, I liked that best of all. Chicago could stand up to the worst God had to offer. I understood why it was built--a place for trade, of course, with railroads and ships and so on, but mostly to give all of us a magnitude of defiance that is not provided by one house on the plains. And the plains is where those storms come from." -- E.L. Doctorow
Never apply a Star Trek solution to a Babylon 5 problem.
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the United States.
[link|mailto:golf_lover44@yahoo.com|contact me]
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Post #278,155
3/13/07 5:20:09 PM
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This is different - they were threatened
with career destruction if they didn't keep their mouths shut. Actually ,they were threatened before they were fired.
I don't buy 'Clinton did it too'.
[link|http://www.blackbagops.net|Black Bag Operations Log]
[link|http://www.objectiveclips.com|Artificial Intelligence]
[link|http://www.badpage.info/seaside/html|Scrutinizer]
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Post #278,189
3/13/07 10:22:24 PM
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There's something I can't help thinking.
And that is with Diebold's ongoing troubles as makers of election equipment, and their recent very public questioning whether they want to stay in that market, here we have the Bush administration firing people for not playing political games in elections (which is exactly what they are not supposed to do, according to what I heard Shapiro say).
Call me an old cynic, but are the tactics of Bush's people to attempt to manipulate the political process getting more visible, or are we getting better at spotting them? Or perhaps are they not working so well anymore and it's started getting harder to do them?
Wade.
Is it enough to love
Is it enough to breathe
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
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Is it enough to die
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be Anything but Ordinary
Please
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-- "Anything but Ordinary" by Avril Lavigne. | · my ·
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Post #278,191
3/13/07 10:33:33 PM
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Re: There's something I can't help thinking.
Call me an old cynic, but are the tactics of Bush's people to attempt to manipulate the political process getting more visible, or are we getting better at spotting them? Or perhaps are they not working so well anymore and it's started getting harder to do them? All three. News blogs and the mass press no longer act is Bush supporters has provided better and faster coverage of these events. And the closer it gets to the end of the Bush administration, the less ability they have to manipulate things. Jay
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Post #278,200
3/14/07 12:50:39 AM
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The press is no longer fully complicit
Just mostly. Also the opposition blogs are more organized and harder to ignore. Propaganda is no longer so easy with the web as back channel.
I4 NOW!
Impeach, Indict, Incarcerate, Inject
Bush, Cheney, Gonzalez, Rumsfeld, Rove, Rice
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