halfnixon.com— A comprehensive overview of just why it's a big deal that eight U.S. Attorneys were fired, and the consequences to the United States justice system.
Mar 31, 2007View in Crawl 4
It is not a big deal, read this article. The cable news shows, the congressional Democrats, and the left wing blogs could not contain their anticipation and glee over the prospect of having a scandal that could bring down another President. They waited breathlessly for the testimony of Kyle Sampson, the former aide to Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee is holding hearings on the firing of eight federal prosecutors by the Justice Department. The belief is that the Justice Department fired the prosecutors based on political calculations made by the White House. Some members of Congress are feigning outrage, claiming that never before has an administration fired federal prosecutors for political reasons. The White House response has been that federal prosecutors serve at the sole discretion of the President of the United States. Their claim is that while the firings were completely legal and nothing new, it was mishandled by the Justice Department. As many of you know, I am a conservative and support the President on many issues, but I have become a trifle weary of the ineptitude of the administration concerning handling the media. How many times have we heard that there was no wrongdoing but that the situation was mishandled? In January of 1978, President Jimmy Carter fired federal prosecutor David Marston for political reasons. Marston was the U.S. Attorney in Philadelphia who was investigating Joshua Eilberg, a Pennsylvania Congressman. Eilberg asked Carter to remove Marston, and Carter obliged. President Carter mishandled his situation as well. He changed his story several times during the aftermath. As much as I hate to say it, Carter was within his Presidential powers to fire Marston. In March of 1993 Attorney General Janet Reno fired 93 federal prosecutors in one day. At the time of the firings, President Clinton explained that it was normal for a President to replace any or all of the U.S. Attorneys at his discretion. No Congressman or news anchor questioned his right or motives in doing so. Why has the firing of 8 prosecutors caused so much controversy? What is the difference between what Carter did almost 30 years ago, or what Clinton did almost 15 years ago, and what Bush has done this year? I believe that this is yet another case of the hatred for George W. Bush and his administration blinding the left and the media. I believe that the administration had every right to fire the U.S. Attorneys but they once again tripped over their own feet in the aftermath. When will the Republicans learn that they are going to be vilified for everything they do? It matters not whether or not they are obeying the law, they need to learn to explain their reasoning clearly and repeatedly. Until they figure that out, the Democrats will continue convene hearings and wage the war of words on the cable news shows and the pages of the New York Times.
I wanted to make sure to thank you for your comment and thoughts, newbee70, and I have tried to answer some of your points on the merits and otherwise back at the original post under "UPDATE 1".
newbee70Mar 31, 2007
It is not a big deal, read this article. The cable news shows, the congressional Democrats, and the left wing blogs could not contain their anticipation and glee over the prospect of having a scandal that could bring down another President. They waited breathlessly for the testimony of Kyle Sampson, the former aide to Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee is holding hearings on the firing of eight federal prosecutors by the Justice Department. The belief is that the Justice Department fired the prosecutors based on political calculations made by the White House. Some members of Congress are feigning outrage, claiming that never before has an administration fired federal prosecutors for political reasons. The White House response has been that federal prosecutors serve at the sole discretion of the President of the United States. Their claim is that while the firings were completely legal and nothing new, it was mishandled by the Justice Department. As many of you know, I am a conservative and support the President on many issues, but I have become a trifle weary of the ineptitude of the administration concerning handling the media. How many times have we heard that there was no wrongdoing but that the situation was mishandled? In January of 1978, President Jimmy Carter fired federal prosecutor David Marston for political reasons. Marston was the U.S. Attorney in Philadelphia who was investigating Joshua Eilberg, a Pennsylvania Congressman. Eilberg asked Carter to remove Marston, and Carter obliged. President Carter mishandled his situation as well. He changed his story several times during the aftermath. As much as I hate to say it, Carter was within his Presidential powers to fire Marston. In March of 1993 Attorney General Janet Reno fired 93 federal prosecutors in one day. At the time of the firings, President Clinton explained that it was normal for a President to replace any or all of the U.S. Attorneys at his discretion. No Congressman or news anchor questioned his right or motives in doing so. Why has the firing of 8 prosecutors caused so much controversy? What is the difference between what Carter did almost 30 years ago, or what Clinton did almost 15 years ago, and what Bush has done this year? I believe that this is yet another case of the hatred for George W. Bush and his administration blinding the left and the media. I believe that the administration had every right to fire the U.S. Attorneys but they once again tripped over their own feet in the aftermath. When will the Republicans learn that they are going to be vilified for everything they do? It matters not whether or not they are obeying the law, they need to learn to explain their reasoning clearly and repeatedly. Until they figure that out, the Democrats will continue convene hearings and wage the war of words on the cable news shows and the pages of the New York Times.
halfnixonMar 31, 2007
I wanted to make sure to thank you for your comment and thoughts, newbee70, and I have tried to answer some of your points on the merits and otherwise back at the original post under "UPDATE 1".