Some Republicans have now been using the talking point that it's no big deal that Bush fired the eight prosecutors at the Justice Department -- because Bill Clinton fired 93 prosecutors when he came into office. This point is completely disingenuous. And the people making it are smart enough to know that it is.
For policy reasons every president replaces all of the prosecutors at the Justice Department in the beginning of their term. George H. W. Bush did, Bill Clinton did and so did George W. Bush. And when George Bush did this in 2001 it was not a scandal or a problem. It was completely normal.
This case is different because he fired the prosecutors for political rather than policy reasons. He was punishing some of them for going after Republican legislators and not going after Democrats before the elections, right or wrong. While this might be legal because the prosecutors serve at the discretion of the president, is it really what you want your president to do?
If Hillary Clinton wins, do you want her firing any prosecutor who goes after corrupt Democrats in the middle of her term? Or coercing her Justice Department to pursue cases against Republicans, whether it's justified or not?
This is a terrible precedent of allowing politics to corrupt the Justice Department. That's why so many Republicans as well as Democrats are furious. Remember almost all of the prosecutors fired were Republicans and originally appointed by the Bush administration. But they had principles and believed in doing their job rather than being hatchet man for Karl Rove and Alberto Gonzales.
In a perverse kind of way, it actually gives me faith that we haven't lost all the Republicans in the country. There are still some that have not been tainted by this administration and that still have strong principles left. Karl Rove and Alberto Gonzales are certainly not among them.
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A Dishonest Republican Talking Point on the Prosecutor Scandal
Posted Mar 15th 2007 3:27PM by Cenk Uygur
Filed under: Scandal, George Bush, Young Turks, Republicans, GOP, Hillary Clinton, U.S. Attorneys
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Reader Comments ( Page 2 of 5)
16. and it just so happens you are smarter.it doesn't matter what they were fired for thats what is so great.for any reason its okay. how is it republicans are on a suicide mission all the time they make a move.they are . what they are doing is exposing and compiling one heck of a report to show the differences between good and evil as it exist on the hill.
republicans are our protectors of our rights under the constitution,good people.
democrats are trying to deminish our rights for their intended overthrow of our constitution,evil.
its the good repubs against evil traitor dems. cut and dry.
every move no mater what it is by our republican protectors is under attack by evil democrats.
its so obvious democrats are evi it kills me you don't see it. first off there is no democracy.don't just say it is prove it,investigate it.you know what democracy is. majority rules by the people.we don't have that .majority rules by the representatives.they vote their way not ours.90 some judges by clinton to stop prosecuting him and other reasons.nevertheless you can't believe that many judges fired are normal?
joseph femiani at 6:40AM on Mar 16th 2007
17. What I think a lot of people are missing here is the Whitehouse story has changed drastically 4 times so far, and I doubt the current one will be the final version. If we could only think of any other time this administration kept changing the reasoning behind one of their decisions we would have established a pattern, but I guess they are people of their word. LMAO.
After the Libby conviction, you're going to see far less loyal Repubs lie to prosecuters and congress under oath. The Plame case also made it clear the "faulty memory" defense isn't going to cut it anymore. It's a whole new ballgame. I'm just surprised the Repubs aren't calling for Bush's impeachment. If he remains, their party is going to die a death of 1000 papercuts. Funny that a guy many thought were the Messiah a short time ago might just be their downfall.
Danny Corrigan at 8:25AM on Mar 16th 2007
18. The process of selecting those prosecutors is what is under investigation not the act of replacing them by itself. Who is pulling the strings and for what purposes? It is quite different to simply replace all of them and to select only those who are not supporting a particular political agenda.
We need some facts since some of the emails seem to indicate an act of intimidation.
Robert Alexander at 8:50AM on Mar 16th 2007
19. Why in the hell don't all of you kibitzers stop it. All everyone is doing is beating a dead horse or dead horses.
Wayne at 10:05AM on Mar 16th 2007
20. Why in the hell don't all you kibitzers stop it. All you are doing is beating a dead horse or dead horses, as the case might be.
I also believe in the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and the 4th of July - WHOOPEEE!!!!!
Wayne at 10:09AM on Mar 16th 2007
21. Some of you quoted facts about firing of attorneys which I found very interesting and learned things I did not know of the workings of the office.It was refreshing to read facts and not conjecture. Yet some seemed to know what the President was "thinking?" It seems strange that after Libby was found guilty in mid term Bush or Rove is suddenly aware of poor preformers? I found it most interesting that Clinton is an issue and alligations as to why he let attorneys go is still the Rove propaganda popping up. The issue to me seems to be that Bush is once again alinging those who will do his bidding and most of what bush has done seems contrarty to the rule of law and the constitution. It is no secret he would like this to be a dictatorship,his words, as it wold make it all so much easier. There should be a lot of explaining to the American people and to Congress as to why.
Diana Polis at 10:19AM on Mar 16th 2007
22. Yes, Republicans are just so lame anymore- hard to believe I used to be one! Stop blaming Clinton for everything. He's been out of office for seven years! The GOP blamed Clinton for: 9/11 (because he didn't get Bin Laden),the army hospital scandal (because Clinton cut funding for the military), and now Clinton's the real culprit in these firings of fed prosecutors (because he fired all of them at the beginning of his term). Take some responsibility for your party. If the Repubs screw up, it's not Clinton's fault. Lame.
rfreeman at 10:40AM on Mar 16th 2007
23. Bush Sr. fired all AG's at the beginning of his term also. Not just Clinton. What I find amusing is the prosectors that were fired were original appointees of this administrations. Seems they were not 'good little republican soldiers' that put the integrity of their office above and beyond the so called 'integrity of the Oval Office and its occupant. Rove has been caught yet again with his hand in the cookie jar..... and been caught again in one of his vindictive paybacks for not doing as he wants. This business of using politcal agendas to affect the working of our government just won't cut it. It has to stop. I don't give a damn who all has done it. Bush Sr, Clinton or Bush/Rove.
All these mixing of facts with propaganda to put up smoke screens is nothing short of being unAmerican. We should ALWAYS put the rule of law first and foremost. Our Constitution can only survive if we insist, we the ppl, need to demand that our elected politicians follow the rule of the land. Nothing short of following the constitution, rule of law, rule of land, we be acceptable. And I don't give a damn if the official is democrat or republican. Enough is enough, already!
cherryl at 11:21PM on Mar 16th 2007
24. This is such a mess with this whole administration. It seems they can do nothing right. They are either really stupid or simply and totally arogant without concern for the people who elected them.
The talking points for Republicans is a regular daily activity. Once it starts, thats all you hear. It is switching some though from blaming Bill Clinton to what Hillary would do. People need to wake up and realize this Karl Rove run administration is as corrupt as any in history and then some. Every week we see another scandal and then out come the talking points that try to sway or blame Clinton. He did it so we can. He did nothing different than Bush 41. All US Attorneys when Clinton took over were Bush appointees. Now it is up to Clinton to reappoint them or "ACCEPT" their resignations. That is not a firing, it is a "transition"! No firing! Transition, get it.
RW at 10:43AM on Mar 16th 2007
25. The failure key Republican Party strategists was not to insist that all appointees from the prior Democratic administration be let go, especially lawyers!!!. It is said that “a Prosecutor can indite a Ham sandwich”, what does one imagines that a band of politically appointed Lawyers (Roving Prosecutors) would do in their spare time?
Bob Rogan at 12:09PM on Mar 16th 2007
26. Typical media bias, especially AOL News, the left wing controls every aspect of life from school, to newspapers, and electronic media. How can any conservative president get a fair shake. When all this is stacked against him, or her. President Clinton and Hillary have those FBI files, all up in their private quarters, and the media talked about it for about half a day, after that they tried their best to squash and bury the story.
wosby1 at 12:51PM on Mar 16th 2007
27. CENK...YOU STENK! THE DOUBLE STANDARD DEMONSTRATED BY YOUR VERSION OF THE US ATTY FIRINGS IS TYPICAL OF THE LEFT. THE SIMPLE FACT IS, THAT THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES CAN FIRE THESE ATTORNEY'S. IT IS LEGAL. THE END. CLINTON FIRED EVERYBODY TO ENSURE THE SUCCESS OF HIS LEFT WING, ANTI-AMERICA AGENDA. SOOOO TYPICAL,"Do as I say, not as I do".
carlton wilson at 1:03PM on Mar 16th 2007
28. I love how the RIGHT WING ASS-KISSING MSM ( AOL this time) puts the completely MISLEADING and Republican Talking Point Spin "Clinton was slammed but NOT investigate? Why is Bush taking so much heat?" as the hyperlink on its news homepage!! The average non-clicking through viewer sees this SPIN and says,"Oh, I guess Bush is just being singled out cause he's a conservative!" NONSENSE! AOL sucks so hard when it comes to just parrotting what the Republicans would like them to say.
Jimtoday at 12:32PM on Mar 16th 2007
29. This is for all those out there who continue to justify this Administration's reckless conduct with ongoing rationalizations and excuses. The one I'm most sick of is "President Clinton fired all 93 attorneys general..." As others have written, this was done at the beginning of his administration, letting their terms expire and simply not renewing them. It was by no means the blatantly political hatchet job as the recent firings were. The recently dismissed attorneys general were either let go for doing their jobs too well, as in the case of Carol Lam, who dared to prosecute a fellow Republican, Duke Cunningham, for malfeasance (he was convicted and now serving time); or in another case, was let go simply because Karl Rove wanted him replaced by one of his personal buddies. Another prosecutor, Mr. Iglesias, testified that overt pressure was put on him to comply with administration demands. When he refused to go along, he was fired. While the President may have the "right" to fire these public servants at will, that doesn't make it right! And all of your excuses and rationaliztions won't make it right, either. I believe such misconduct is continuing evidence of an Administration that is out of control, and out of touch with the American people, who elected them to serve us in good faith. I hope the Congress does their lawful duty in providing proper oversight on this matter. The Hearings cannot start soon enough!
Steve Marcus at 12:48PM on Mar 16th 2007
30. First off, it would do the general public good if basically all of the Washington Democrats would stop bickering and get busy on worthwhile legislation and stop picking on the Republican in the White house. What Clinton did was what he chose do do. Those eight Prosecutors probabley had reason to get fired. Let it be.
Cecil W. Clark at 1:44PM on Mar 16th 2007