Serving and Pleasuring
Mar 29th, 2007 at 8:55 am by Chris
From the AP -
Gonzales’ former chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, in remarks obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, spoke dismissively of Democrats’ condemnation of what they call political pressure in the firings.
“The distinction between ‘political’ and ‘performance-related’ reasons for removing a United States attorney is, in my view, largely artificial,” he said. “A U.S. attorney who is unsuccessful from a political perspective … is unsuccessful.”
Digby, starting with a James Madison quote -
…let us consider the restraints he will feel after he [the president]is placed in that elevated station. It is to be remarked that the power in this case will not consist so much in continuing a bad man in office, as in the danger of displacing a good one. Perhaps the great danger, as has been observed, of abuse in the executive power, lies in the improper continuance of bad men in office. But the power we contend for will not enable him to do this; for if an unworthy man be continued in office by an unworthy president, the house of representatives can at any time impeach him, and the senate can remove him, whether the president chuses or not. The danger then consists merely in this: the president can displace from office a man whose merits require that he should be continued in it. What will be the motives which the president can feel for such abuse of his power, and the restraints that operate to prevent it? In the first place, he will be im-peachable by this house, before the senate, for such an act of mal-administration; for I contend that the wanton removal of meritorious officers would subject him to impeachment and removal from his own high trust.
Yes, impeachment was considered the remedy for such high crimes and misdemeanors as the promotion and protection of incompetent government officers and the “wanton removal” of good ones. The founders didn’t anticipate that serving and pleasuring the president would be casually accepted as politics as usual.
The last paragraph says it all, man. This ain’t about Gonzales or the 8 attorneys. It’s about getting Bush & Cheney. It’s about getting Carl Rove. It’s about not letting this administration up for air for ANYTHING. They sure as hell didn’t handle this well at all (again), which made this so much worse.
How do you actually think these people got these positions? POLITICS! This is the way inside the Beltway Washington is. Clinton fired all 93 of ‘em when he started out. It’s the nature of the political biz. “Politics as usual”, right Chris?
Haven’t really heard what these 8 were involved in case-wise, so I suppose there’s no “scandal” there.
Stop beating up these minions, & go after impeachment. We on the right know that’s what you want, so strong-arm your boys (& girls) inside the Beltway & ROLL!
The caseloads are interesting Kevin. You should look into it. Have a look at this JMM post about Carol Lam -
(March 14, 2007 — 01:04 AM EDT)
Below I noted this paragraph in tonight’s article from McClatchy …
The timing is well worth noting. But the Lewis investigation wasn’t the only trouble Lam was making. Look what else was happening in the couple weeks before May 11th …
April 28th, 2006 — Cunningham-Wilkes-Foggo “Hookergate” scandal breaks open. Probe grows out of San Diego US Attorney’s Office’s Cunningham investigation. CIA Director Goss denies involvement.
April 29th, 2006 — Washington Post reports that Hookergate’s Shirlington Limo Service had $21 million contract with Department of Homeland Security.
May 2nd, 2006 — Kyle “Dusty” Foggo confirms attendence at Wilkes/Cunningham Hookergate parties.
May 4th, 2006 — Watergate Hotel subpoenaed in San Diego/Cunningham/Hookergate probe.
May 5th, 2006 — WSJ reports that Kyle “Dusty” Foggo, who Goss installed as #3 at CIA, is under criminal investigation as part of the San Diego/Cunningham investigation.
May 5th, 2006 — Porter Goss resigns as Director of Central Intelligence.
May 6th, 2006 — WaPo reports on questionable DHS contract awarded to Shirlington Limo, the ‘hookergate’ Limo service under scrutiny as part of the San Diego/Cunningham investigation. Similar report in the Times.
May 7th, 2006 — House Committee to investigate DHS contract with Hookergate’s Shirlington Limo.
May 8th, 2006 — Lyle “Dusty” Foggo resigns at CIA.
May 11th, 2006 — LA Times reports that Cunningham investigation has expanded into the dealings of Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), House Appropriations Committee Chairman.
May 12th, 2006 — Federal agents working on the San Diego/Cunningham investigation execute search warrants on the home and CIA office of Kyle “Dusty” Foggo.