The American Spectator

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US Attorneys and Them Attorneys

By Quin Hillyer on 3.14.07 @ 6:25PM

Much more on this later, but for now, let's not get too carried away in assessing this matter of the Justice Department's replacement of eight U.S. Attorneys. The problem with the reporting and commentary so far is that all sides seem to be failing to distinguish case from case. The usual lefty suspects and their mainstream media fellow travelers are yelling for the scalp of everybody at Justice and in the White House, and the usual conservatives are rushing to defend everybody involved. Hold on, everybody. Take a deep breath. Don't paint with too broad a brush. Some people at the White House screwed up, others didn't. Some people at Justice screwed up, others didn't. Some of the U.S. Attorneys merited replacement, while others didn't. And at least one of the replacements, Tim Griffin of Arkansas by way of the Bush-Rove White House, has been pilloried in an utterly unfair manner, when in truth he is a tremendous public servant. (Full disclaimer: I have known Tim for about 12 years and consider him a friendly acquaintance, but obviously not a close one because I haven't spoken to him for almost two years and have never spent much time with him. I have double-checked my judgment on him with several other knowledgeable people, and closely perused his resume, just to make sure I am not letting that friendly acquaintance cloud my judgment. The truth is that his OBJECTIVE qualifications speak for themselves, and speak well.) Anyway, please watch this web site for a much fuller report by me by week's end. For now, though, let's say this: Some people who have not yet lost their jobs over this "scandal" probably deserve to lose their jobs. Others are being made to take a fall that may not be quite fair. But despite what the lefties say, "scandal" is too strong a word for most of what happened. Stupidity and asininity on some parts, yes, and serious idiocy and jerkiness with regard to the treatment of at least one of the U.S. Attorneys who was replaced (i.e., wrongly replaced). But this pales in comparison with the absolute scandal of the Clintons firing all 93 U.S. Attorneys at once in 1993, which drew almost no comment, much less outrage, from the "mainstream" (i.e. leftward biased) media.

More Thursday or Friday. GOOD stuff.

topics:
Mainstream Media