Ashcroft Recusal: The Incredidible Disappearing Story

[Stevendsmith]

Will this story last for even half a news cycle? Will it make it to this evening's cable gossip parade? Watching this story evaporate should be a good lesson for all those who think that mass media professionalism still exists.

A minor procedural action in the Jackson or Bryant case should be enough to disappear the Ashcroft recusal. Hell, how about that giant snake they found?

[Bucky]

1. they're on cspan right now

James Comey (deputy AG) has announced that he's putting a special prosecutor on the job. He's defending Ashcroft's fairness in waiting so long to recuse himself from the investigation, but that's what any professional would do. The hard facts on the ground is that the "accumulation of facts" lead Ashcroft to get out of the way and let real justice get done. That's clearly a clue to where the investigation is going--straight at the political apparatus of the Bush White House.

http://www.c-span.org/watch/cspan_rm.asp?Cat=TV&Code=CS

[KoKo]

5. Yes......he appointed a "Special Presecutor" should be the headline. I

saw the last part of the Press Conference. Comey is the only Bush Admin. official I've been able to tolerate. The guy actually doesn't have that RW Fundie/Closed Mind look. I wonder if he's really as sincere as he sounds. I'll have to Google him. I was impressed. Maybe he just handles himself better and therefore is more deceiving.

[lancdem]

8. Somebody posted a link to a WaPo story that ran Xmas Day

saying the investigation was heating up. So the timing is not coincidental. That story also said the WH was unconcerned - unless this reached a head right before the election.

[judge_smales]

2. Don't forget the

ephedra ban or Spurrier's resignation.

[lancdem]

7. Spurrier resigned?

I missed that.

[mark0rama]

3. What's this about a giant snake?

Just kidding!

[salinen]

4. This investigation will go

nowhere! Geez, haven't we learned anything about corruption yet? No one is going to get fingered, and nobody is going to jail.

[Stevendsmith]

6. I agree completely

Sadly, I have learned about corruption.

[Cocoa]

12. that's what Illinois thought about corruption

until Patrick Fitzgerald arrived here.

However, I think he'll have a bigger challenge against the Bushies than he did against the two-bit crooks in Cicero and Springfield.

[librechik]

9. They made damn sure it was an extra big news day today

just can't seem to find space for it between the Euro Flight restrictions, terror attacks in Europe, ephedra, mad cow, Libya nukes, Operation Avalanche (Afghanistan), consumer confidence and Fedex& Kinkos. Sorry! just can't cover that Ashcroft thing...we all know how ridiculous that is anyway!

[librechik]

10. I got this changed!

My little hint got the story included in the news! (I think)

Yay for our side!

[dfitzsim]

11. FitzGerald is a good man

He just successfully prosecuted the Repulican Governor of Illinois (Ryan) for corruption charges. He is, but all accounts I've seen, not an ideologue.

Is Ashcroft backing off because the evidence is making this a political hot potato, or does he now feel he has safely buried enough evidence and leads (or is sufficiently confident that a charge can't stick) that he feels it is now "safe" to hand the investigation over to an independent counsel.

I'm glad to see that this story still has legs. :-)

As for timing of the release, it has been pointed out that this administration waits for times when fewer folks are paying attention to announce bad news - typically on Friday or the day before a holiday. This announcement came on a Tuesday afternoon and was "Breaking News" on the cable channels. So, very odd.