Clinton Did It Too! Talking Point Came from Justice Dept

babylonsister

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Fri Mar-23-07 07:48 AM
Original message

Clinton Did It Too! Talking Point Came from Justice Dept

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002853.php

Clinton Did It Too! Talking Point Came from Justice Dept
By Paul Kiel - March 23, 2007, 8:30 AM

Every time I think this talking point has finally suffered its long-deserved death, it continues making the rounds. So, here:

Three weeks ago, Justice Department officials settled on a "talking point" to rebut the chorus of Democratic accusations that the Bush administration had wrongly injected politics into law enforcement when it dismissed eight U.S. attorneys.

Why not focus on the Clinton administration's having "fired all 93 U.S. attorneys" when Janet Reno became attorney general in March 1993? The idea was introduced in a memo from a Justice Department spokeswoman.

The message has been effective. What's followed has been a surge of complaints on blogs and talk radio that it was the Clinton administration that first politicized the Justice Department.

The facts, it turns out, are more complicated.

The central "complicated" fact is this: the talking point is completely bogus. Read the rest of The Los Angeles Times piece for the rundown.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-talking23mar23,0,3342736,full.story?coll=la-home-headlines

And by the way, here is a report from the Congressional Research Service showing that Alberto Gonzales' dismissal of eight U.S. attorneys in the middle of the term for no outstanding reason is unprecedented.

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/20/crs-clinton-attorney-purge/

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SpiralHawk

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Fri Mar-23-07 07:53 AM
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1. "The Clenis! It's everywhere !." - corrupt republicon cronies

"We are holy, special, and innocent. The Clenis made us do it. Blame the Clenis."

- corrupt republicon cronies with a full-blown Clenis Fixation THING

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Casper Alabaster

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Fri Mar-23-07 08:10 AM
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2. Apples-n-Oranges;

President Clinton exercised his legitimate executive authority and privelege, Bushco is grasping at straws to further cement fascism and more genocide.
Clinton was an actual President, elected by the popular vote, whereas Bush was imposed by fiat upon unwilling and unforgiving subjects of a formerly free people, Amerkin citizens.

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Swamp Rat

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Sat Mar-24-07 05:49 AM
Response to Reply #2

8. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

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Arkansas Granny

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Fri Mar-23-07 08:21 AM
Response to Original message

3. The most telling aspect of this debacle is the way they tried to

Edited on Fri Mar-23-07 08:23 AM by Arkansas Granny

hide and cover up the White House involvement. If you haven't done anything wrong then why try to hide it (to borrow one of their favorite memes).

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Gold Metal Flake

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Fri Mar-23-07 08:47 AM
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4. K&R

Thanks for posting this! :toast:

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tanyev

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Fri Mar-23-07 10:09 AM
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5. Conveniently omitting the fact that most U.S. Attorneys used to volunteer their resignations--

All newly inaugurated presidents install their own U.S. attorneys - at the outset. The well-established custom before Clinton was for all existing U.S. attorneys serving at the pleasure of the departed president to offer their resignations to the incoming guy. But Republicans had become famously less courteous by 1993, and few U.S. attorneys submitted those resignations to Attorney General Janet Reno. So she fired them.

http://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/2007/03/19/JohnBrummett/341169.html

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radfringe

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Fri Mar-23-07 10:22 AM
Response to Original message

6. 125 new U.S. Attorneys, which means at least that many fired to make room

Edited on Fri Mar-23-07 10:23 AM by radfringe

Testimony of The Honorable Paul McNulty
Deputy Attorney General - U.S. Department of Justice
Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate
“Is the Department of Justice Politicizing the Hiring and Firing of U.S. Attorneys?”
February 6, 2007
http://judiciary.senate.gov/testimony.cfm?id=2516&wit_id=2742

Excerpt:

"Since January 20, 2001, 125 new U.S. Attorneys have been nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. "

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intaglio

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Sat Mar-24-07 05:35 AM
Response to Original message

7. But .... But .... But ....

Clinton got a blow job ...

:sarcasm:

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cooolandrew

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Sat Mar-24-07 06:33 AM
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9. Their originality knows no bounds they could at least say LBJ did it or something.

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bklyncowgirl

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Sat Mar-24-07 06:36 AM
Response to Original message

10. ..and if Bill Clinton jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge does that mean it's a good thing to do.

I just thought I'd try one of my mother's favorite talking points here.

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