The Spectacle Blog
When AmeriCorps Inspector General Gerald Walpin was fired a year ago, it was the first shot in what eventually became the Obama administration’s “War on Watchdogs.” After Walpin sued to win back his job, the case was repeatedly delayed until a federal judge dismissed it Thursday:
On Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Roberts threw out a lawsuit Walpin brought in an attempt to be restored to his position at the Corporation for National and Community Service, which runs Americorps and other programs. Walpin has claimed that his firing was political retaliation for his opposition to wasteful spending by the agency and for his aggressive investigation of a friend of Obama, Sacramento Mayor and former NBA player Kevin Johnson. The White House stridently denied any such motivation.
Roberts said a federal law passed in 2008 with Obama’s support, the Inspector General Reform Act, did not allow Walpin the right to sue over what he contends was an improper removal. The judge also said that the requirement in the statute that Obama give Congress his reasons for any such firing was too vague for the courts to assess whether Obama’s claim that he’d lost confidence in Walpin was sufficient.
Byron York of the Washington Examiner says, “[I]f the decision by U.S. District Judge Richard Roberts stands, in the future the White House will be able fire other inspectors general as it fired Walpin without fear of legal consequences.”
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John - TMF| 6.19.10 @ 10:27PM
Stacy -
I keep telling you the fix is in. Nothing is going to be done about this until after January 2011; and only if there is a huge turn over in Congress. Of course the GOP congress-critters that show up must have thick skins, spines and bladder control...
This judge is an appointee of... wait for it...
Boy Klintoon his slimy self. When it comes to Democrats, there is no "independent" judiciary. It doesn't exist. There aren't enough neutral Democrat appointed judges to crew a shell in a HAAVAAD vs YALE old fellow traveler's regatta.
If Walpin has enough money and time, he might make it to a court with a more neutral Court of Law.
It's just another reminder that the Democrats can pretty much do whatever the heck they want to do, and nothing much will come of it. They own the Media, Academia, the Bureaucracy, the Bar and the Judiciary.
Walpin sounds like an honest man... Perhaps the last for a long time to come.
:-/
The Mighty Fahvaag
edgard| 6.20.10 @ 5:19AM
Have no fear, from the other inspector generals you will not hear ! ed
martin j smith| 6.20.10 @ 8:30AM
John -TMF--I concur. This why voting aginst all Democrats is vital. Also it is important among Republicans and conservatives to avoid open fractures. First win then debate. It is also important to expose those Democrats who ru7n as " conservatives" as phoneys. Point to what the so called Blue Dogs did with the Health Care Debate. Then there is Charlie Christ and his ilk.
The ONLY WAY TO HAVE A CHANCE IS ONE WAY: WIN BIG IN 2010 AND 2012. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mimi| 6.20.10 @ 9:52AM
Rahm's on "THIS WEEK " saying: Rep Joe Barton and Rand Paul is for ..BP/big OIL and they...are for the fisherman" in the sleazy 20 bil. shake-down. Also say's: "It's a philosophy of governing". My guess, their gonna run with it!!! More lies and a way they think they can get off "THE HOOK"!..... for their deliberate delay and messing with the likes of Bobby Jindl. We patriots , do not support BP, or the way they have handled this horrendous spill! And are in full support of the people suffering in the Gulf. WE expect the elected POTUS to follow the law and defend the Constitution not be the holder of " THE MONOPOLY-GAME BANK ".. and be judge and jury. We have a fight on our hands, we are dealing with a rough bunch... LIARS and THUGS!!!
Nate| 6.21.10 @ 12:13AM
Funny ...
BP's stock went up 10% after the 20 billion deal was announced.
BP was not forced to make the deal. They had their own reasons -- the worst PR image in the WORLD for one -- and now have, as they say, skin in the game.
People on the wacko right -- like you, Mimi -- hate Obama so irrationally and so intensely that you will actually side with those who perpetrated one of the most egregious acts of corporate malfeasance in American history over him.
It's SICK, STUPID, and SAD.
As for calling Democrats -- of whom I'm one -- "thugs," you can kiss my ass you silly ignoramus. Maybe if you were capable of making a single point that hasn't been arranged for you by some douche bag talk-radio nazi, I'd have respect for you.
Nobama| 6.21.10 @ 5:32AM
Nate, the little Fascist Liberal, is calling us Nazis again. That's rich!
Get it through your head, bozo--it's not that we trust BP, it's just that we trust Big Government thugs like you and Oilbama even less.
You incompetent corruptocrats are worse than useless. See you in November.
JP| 6.21.10 @ 7:54AM
Nate,
Credit Default insurers are currently pricing a BP bankruptcy. The President wanted to make sure he got his cut before Bankruptcy papers are filed. BP has just pledged all of its cash, plus all of its future earnings out 10 financial quarters. BP is finished.
Liam| 6.21.10 @ 4:18PM
Hopefully, Oilbama is too.
Ken (Old Texican)| 6.20.10 @ 11:25AM
Mr. McCain,
Again! Thank you for keeping us in the loop on this stuff.
Fellow posters above...thank youse! (smile).
A couple of thoughts:
1.Check out the related articles on American Thinker today (Sunday)
2. This firing is merely one more symptom of the essential "Lie" (singular) that defines this regime.
Just like "Sin" (capital S singular) defines the stance of a person who has turned their back on God.
SoCon| 6.20.10 @ 3:26PM
DC is a smelly swamp filled with muck and soiled swamp-things.
We must drain the swamp.
Oldefarte| 6.20.10 @ 4:00PM
Hey, it's the CHICAGO WAY of GESTAPO POLITICS 101!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tom Osterman| 6.20.10 @ 5:06PM
Wrong! It's the Democratic Party way! SOP! Remember the Clinton administration.