Clinton did it! Clinton did it!

[laylah]

Idiotic argument from a bonehead repub friend of my brothers re: firing of US Attys. I read a thread regarding this and why it is normal procedure to dismiss US Attys from prior administrations. Unfortunately, I cannot find the thread and I need to explain to this moron the difference between Prez Bill and *dumbass and the dismissal of the US Attys. Any help would be appreciated and thanks, as always, in advance.

Jenn

[Rusty MacHenry]

1. Yes Clinton did do that

But didn't he do it like how other presidents do, clear the attorneys so he can he some new blood in there, people he knows. Chimpy did for political gain and he didn't consult congress.

That's the difference, Clinton didn't do it for political gain, Chimpy did.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

2. And, Clinton didn't sneak an article into the Patriot Act in the middle of the night

allowing him to fire and hire at will, without Congressional oversight. MKJ

[laylah]

3. As always, I knew I

could count on you! :hug:

Jenn

[BushOut06]

4. I am so fucking tired of hearing that lame-ass excuse

Seems like every single time something goes wrong for *, his kiss-ass followers scream "Clinton did it too". They know damned well that they cannot defend even a single Bush action, so they have to try to make it appear that everyone else does it too.

[laylah]

5. Here is my reply to this

fool. I had to be somewhat respectful as he is a colleague of my brother's. My bro is an elected official (a Dem, btw) so I try very hard not to cause him too much trouble...lol. Most times I succeed but when I don't, boy howdy :rofl:

Anyway, here it is:

Bill did it! Bill did it! When are "you people" going to get it that Bill has been gone for 6 long agonizing years. I must say; however, I was relieved to see an end to 8 years of peace and prosperity.

Bill did it like other presidents do, cleared the attorneys so he could get some new blood in there, people he knew. Chimpy did it for political gain and he didn't consult Congress. That's the difference, Clinton didn't do it for political gain, Chimpy did. And, furthermore, Clinton didn't sneak an article into the Patriot Act in the middle of the night allowing him to fire and hire at will, without Congressional oversight. OH! And how about those signing statements?

*Sigh* And I thought my days of teaching were over.

Regards,
Jenn

I doubt the fool with "get it" but hey, one must keep trying.

Again, thanks to you all for your input.

[radfringe]

6. Since January 20, 2001, 125 new U.S. Attorneys have been nominated by the President

Testimony of
The Honorable Paul McNulty
Deputy Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
February 6, 2007
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://judiciary.senate.gov/testimony.cfm?id=2516&wit_id=2742

Testimony of Paul J. 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

buried in the testimony.....

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

[dsweet]

7. Sure did, got impeached for it too!

Repubs always spin right, so spin it left. Pull it right back on topic and put the dit on the defensive.

[sinkingfeeling]

8. Try some of these quotes ...

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/03/13/sampson-rove-attorn... /

But in an e-mail to Harriet Miers on Jan. 9, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’s chief of staff Kyle Sampson (who resigned yesterday) admitted that the Clinton administration never purged its U.S. attorneys in the middle of their terms, explicitly stating, “In recent memory, during the Reagan and Clinton Administrations, Presidents Reagan and Clinton did not seek to remove and replace U.S. Attorneys to serve indefinitely under the holdover provision”:

Former Clinton chief of staff John Podesta previously told ThinkProgress that Rove’s claims that the Clinton administration also purged attorneys is “pure fiction.” He added, “Replacing most U.S. attorneys when a new administration comes in — as we did in 1993 and the Bush administration did in 2001 — is not unusual. But the Clinton administration never fired federal prosecutors as pure political retribution.”

And even CNN.com admits it:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/03/15/fired.attorneys/...

U.S. attorneys are political appointees who are routinely replaced when a new president takes office, but their removal in the middle of a presidential administration is rare -- and some say unprecedented.

And from this post you can get to the offical report on the the attorneys that resigned when Bush took office in 2001.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3161474

Edited to add link.

[Geek_Girl]

9. Clinton is their excuse for everything

They sound like a broken record.

[casus belli]

10. I've been hearing it alot as well...here's some DU links

I hope one of these were the link that you were referring to. There's alot of good information nonetheless:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=3165368

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=3159804

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=3151952

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=416404


edit: I found it interesting to learn that only 13 USAs had ever been fired in the history of the US. That is, fired without replacing them before the expiration of their term of service. Bush has the dubious distinction of being responsible for 8 of those firings.