[Rhodes22-list] Speaking of politicians.

Wed Apr 4 14:06:30 EDT 2007

Brad,

What?.....This editorial really doesn't address the coment in my email.....I 
will do some checking but I think you are wrong about this starting with 
Clinton. I don't think anyone is saying that Clinto did not fire AGs. I just 
don't think it started with the Clinton's. You post doesn't shed any light 
in either direction. - Wally

>From: "Brad Haslett" <flybrad at gmail.com>
>Reply-To: The Rhodes 22 mail list <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Speaking of politicians.
>Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2007 12:08:47 -0500
>
>Wally,
>
>This is a 'tempest in a teapot', something, anything, to run interference
>during the last two years of a lame duck Presidency.  Here is an editorial
>from the WSJ on the subject.
>
>Brad
>
>---------------
>
>*The Hubbell Standard*
>Hillary Clinton knows all about sacking U.S. Attorneys.
>
>*Wednesday, March 14, 2007 12:01 a.m.*
>
>Congressional Democrats are in full cry over the news this week that the
>Administration's decision to fire eight U.S. Attorneys originated
>from--gasp--the White House. Senator Hillary Clinton joined the fun
>yesterday, blaming President Bush for "the politicization of our
>prosecutorial system." Oh, my.
>
>As it happens, Mrs. Clinton is just the Senator to walk point on this issue
>of dismissing U.S. attorneys because she has direct personal experience. In
>any Congressional probe of the matter, we'd suggest she call herself as the
>first witness--and bring along Webster Hubbell as her chief counsel.
>
>As everyone once knew but has tried to forget, Mr. Hubbell was a former
>partner of Mrs. Clinton at the Rose Law Firm in Little Rock who later went
>to jail for mail fraud and tax evasion. He was also Bill and Hillary
>Clinton's choice as Associate Attorney General in the Justice Department
>when Janet Reno, his nominal superior, simultaneously fired all 93 U.S.
>Attorneys in March 1993. Ms. Reno--or Mr. Hubbell--gave them 10 days to 
>move
>out of their offices.
>
>At the time, President Clinton presented the move as something perfectly
>ordinary: "All those people are routinely replaced," he told reporters, 
>"and
>I have not done anything differently." In fact, the dismissals were
>unprecedented: Previous Presidents, including Ronald Reagan and Jimmy
>Carter, had both retained holdovers from the previous Administration and
>only replaced them gradually as their tenures expired. This allowed
>continuity of leadership within the U.S. Attorney offices during the
>transition.
>
>Equally extraordinary were the politics at play in the firings. At the 
>time,
>Jay Stephens, then U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia, was
>investigating then Ways and Means Chairman Dan Rostenkowski, and was 
>"within
>30 days" of making a decision on an indictment. Mr. Rostenkowski, who was
>shepherding the Clinton's economic program through Congress, eventually 
>went
>to jail on mail fraud charges and was later pardoned by Mr. Clinton.
>
>Also at the time, allegations concerning some of the Clintons' Whitewater
>dealings were coming to a head. By dismissing all 93 U.S. Attorneys at 
>once,
>the Clintons conveniently cleared the decks to appoint "Friend of Bill"
>Paula Casey as the U.S. Attorney for Little Rock. Ms. Casey never did bring
>any big Whitewater indictments, and she rejected information from another
>FOB, David Hale, on the business practices of the Arkansas elite including
>Mr. Clinton. When it comes to "politicizing" Justice, in short, the Bush
>White House is full of amateurs compared to the Clintons.
>
>  And it may be this very amateurism that explains how the current
>Administration has managed to turn this routine issue of replacing
>Presidential appointees into a political fiasco. There was nothing wrong
>with replacing the eight Attorneys, all of whom serve at the President's
>pleasure. Prosecutors deserve supervision like any other executive branch
>appointees.
>
>The supposed scandal this week is that Mr. Bush had been informed last fall
>that some U.S. Attorneys had been less than vigorous in pursuing 
>voter-fraud
>cases and that the President had made the point to Attorney General Alberto
>Gonzales. Voter fraud strikes at the heart of democratic institutions, and
>it was entirely appropriate for Mr. Bush--or any President--to insist that
>his appointees act energetically against it.
>
>Take sacked U.S. Attorney John McKay from Washington state. In 2004, the
>Governor's race was decided in favor of Democrat Christine Gregoire by 129
>votes on a third recount. As the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and other media
>outlets reported, some of the "voters" were deceased, others were 
>registered
>in storage-rental facilities, and still others were convicted felons. More
>than 100 ballots were "discovered" in a Seattle warehouse. None of this
>constitutes proof that the election was stolen. But it should have been
>enough to prompt Mr. McKay, a Democrat, to investigate, something he
>declined to do, apparently on grounds that he had better things to do.
>
>In New Mexico, another state in which recent elections have been decided by
>razor thin margins, U.S. Attorney David Iglesias did establish a voter 
>fraud
>task force in 2004. But it lasted all of 10 weeks before closing its doors,
>despite evidence of irregularities by the likes of the Association of
>Community Organizations for Reform Now, or Acorn. As our John Fund reported
>at the time, Acorn's director Matt Henderson refused to answer questions in
>court about whether his group had illegally made copies of voter
>registration cards in the run-up to the 2004 election.
>
>  As for some of the other fired Attorneys, at least one of their 
>dismissals
>seemed to owe to differences with the Administration about the death
>penalty, another to questions about the Attorney's managerial skills. Not
>surprisingly, the dismissed Attorneys are insisting their dismissals were
>unfair, and perhaps in some cases they were. It would not be the first time
>in history that a dismissed employee did not take kindly to his firing, nor
>would it be the first in which an employer sacked the wrong person. No
>question, the Justice Department and White House have botched the handling
>of this issue from start to finish. But what we don't have here is any
>serious evidence that the Administration has acted improperly or to protect
>some of its friends. If Democrats want to understand what a real abuse of
>power looks like, they can always ask the junior Senator from New York.
>
>On 4/4/07, TN Rhodey <tnrhodey at hotmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Brad,
> >
> > Of course the AGs serve at the President's descrection however I think 
>you
> > might be wrong about the firings/replacement starting with Clinton. I
> > thought the AG firings started at least as far back as Reagan and was 
>then
> > followed by Bush and Clinton. I thought W's issues have more to do with
> > the
> > timing....if he would of done this in the first year or so it would have
> > merely followed precedent ...by waiting he left the door open to
> > criticism.
> >
> > Wally
> >
> > >From: "Brad Haslett" <flybrad at gmail.com>
> > >Reply-To: The Rhodes 22 mail list <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> > >To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> > >Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Speaking of politicians.
> > >Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2007 08:26:04 -0600
> > >
> > >Wally,
> > >
> > >AG's serve at the President's discretion.  Clinton wholesale replacing
> > ALL
> > >of them at once was a first. The press at the time barely mentioned it.
> > >Bush
> > >replaced 8 out of almost 100.  Big deal.  This is a huge non-story that
> > >ranks right up there with the one about whats-her-name dying, you know
> > the
> > >one, that blonde chick with the big hooters.
> > >
> > >I've been tied down with airplane hangar issues and taxes but plan to 
>get
> > >on
> > >the lake soon.  I haven't bothered to look and see if the front that
> > passed
> > >here last night has made it past you, but it is chilly this morning.  
>At
> > >least there's some wind.
> > >
> > >Brad
> > >
> > >On 4/4/07, TN Rhodey <tnrhodey at hotmail.com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > The sailing here has been great the last few days!!!  I have been
> > trying
> > > > NOT
> > > > to follow the AG firings but doesn't every President do the same 
>thing
> > > > Clinton did? I thought this was pretty standard when a new pres came
> > > > in.....this may be a matter of bad timing? Wally
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > >From: "Brad Haslett" <flybrad at gmail.com>
> > > > >Reply-To: The Rhodes 22 mail list <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> > > > >To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> > > > >Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Speaking of politicians.
> > > > >Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2007 07:29:24 -0600
> > > > >
> > > > >Rummy,
> > > > >
> > > > >Speaking of amnesia, last Sunday we had George Stephanopoulos on 
>his
> > >ABC
> > > > >news show discussing the firing of eight Attorney Generals, a
> > non-event
> > > > if
> > > > >there ever was one, and little Georgie keeps a straight face 
>through
> > >the
> > > > >whole thing.  What a fine piece of acting.  Did George share his
> > > > experience
> > > > >as spokesperson for the Clinton administration explaining the 
>firing
> > of
> > > > >all,
> > > > >every single friggin' AG in the US, including the one in Little 
>Rock
> > > > >investigating Whitewater?  No, he continued on, sure that most of 
>the
> > > > >country is too stupid to know or care. He was right. Want to know 
>how
> > > > much
> > > > >press coverage that got when it happened?  About 20 seconds on one
> > > > network.
> > > > >Fair and balanced?
> > > > >
> > > > >Brad
> > > > >
> > > > >On 4/4/07, R22RumRunner at aol.com <R22RumRunner at aol.com> wrote:
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Breaking News
> > > > > > Scientists Study Memory Loss Among Politicians
> > > > > > Near-amnesia Reaching Epidemic Proportions, Experts  Say
> > > > > >
> > > > > > An "unprecedented epidemic of memory loss" is
> > afflicting  America's
> > > > > > politicians, making it virtually impossible for them to  
>remember
> > >key
> > > > > > phone
> > > > > > conversations, meetings, and memos, a spokesman  for the world's
> > > > leading
> > > > > > brain
> > > > > > scientists said today.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > The  spokesman, Dr. Hiroshi Kyosuke of the University of Tokyo, 
>is
> > >one
> > > > >of
> > > > > > over four hundred eminent brain scientists who have gathered in
> > >Oslo,
> > > > > > Norway
> > > > > > this week for a high-level research conference to probe  the
> > recent
> > > > > > phenomenon
> > > > > > of memory loss that has plagued the nation's  politicians.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > "The question at hand is this: why are  politicians so good at
> > > > >remembering
> > > > > > contributors' names and phone  numbers but so bad at remembering
> > > > > > everything else?
> > > > > > " Dr. Kyosuke  said.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Over the course of the conference, brain scientists  have
> > presented
> > > > > > research
> > > > > > papers on a variety of subjects related to  memory loss, such as
> > > > former
> > > > > > New
> > > > > > York mayor Rudolph Giuliani's  inability to remember a briefing 
>he
> > > > > > received
> > > > > > about former police  commissioner Bernard Kerik's possible ties 
>to
> > > > > > organized
> > > > > > crime.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > "That seems like the sort of thing that a normal human
> > brain  would
> > > > have
> > > > > > no
> > > > > > difficulty remembering," Dr. Kyosuke said. "What we  are 
>learning
> > at
> > > > >this
> > > > > > conference is that when it comes to  politicians' brains, we 
>have
> > so
> > > > >much
> > > > > > more to
> > > > > > learn."
> > > > > >
> > > > > > On  Monday, a full day of the conference was devoted to a paper
> > > > >entitled,
> > > > > > "
> > > > > > The Neuroscience of Scooter Libby," followed by a keynote  
>address
> > > > given
> > > > > > by
> > > > > > Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > While  many attendees considered Mr. Gonzales' speech a 
>highpoint
> > of
> > > > the
> > > > > > conference, the Attorney General offered a different assessment:
> > "I
> > > > >have
> > > > > > no
> > > > > > recollection of it."
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Elsewhere, President Bush said  he would devote the remainder of
> > his
> > > > >term
> > > > > > to
> > > > > > fighting global  warming, adding, "April  Fools!"
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > ************************************** See what's free at
> > > > > > http://www.aol.com.
> > > > > > __________________________________________________
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