Playing Devil's Advocate: Obama Passed the Buck

[Crooked Moon]

the AG serves, as an appointed officeholder, at the pleasure of the president. as such, his or her loyalties reside in some gray area between upholding the letter of the law and supporting the president.

the gloating around here seems a bit premature, as it is conceivable that obama could privately express his unwillingness to prosecute and leave it to holder to find an escape hatch, making him the public lightning rod for criticism and mealy-mouthing.

the gloaters, who see this as masterful chess-playing by the president, might well come to find they were ooo-ing and aah-ing over s single move and not see the bigger game at all.

prosecute somebody and i'll eat crow.
but a cute PR move does little for me.

holder's history suggests he'll bend over backwards to please the president (see "marc rich").

[Avalux]

1. Aren't you the clever one.

NOT. Devil's Advocate my ass.

:rofl:

[ecstatic]

2. check out the constitution, then get back to us nt

[rug]

7. Article II, Section 2

"he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices"

Your point?

[Thrill]

3. No. The Justice Department should act as an independent body

Although The President is the AG's boss. This is the right protocol for pursuing legal actions. Holder should decide whether to prosecute or investigate someone or not. The WH politicizing and running the DOJ is what went on during the Bush yrs.

[Danger Mouse]

4. Passed the buck...to the man whose job it is to actually do prosecutions?

Go hook up with brent. You guys would get along great.

[ErinBerin84]

5. whatever Obama thinks

I guess we should just hope that the AG makes the right decision. Howard Fineman was on Hardball tonight seeming to say what you are implying and that the wh is just doing this to scapegoat, but on Countdown last night he was saying that he wasn't scapegoating this to Holder because it isn't his style to "pass the buck". Kind of a direct contradiction. And by the way Fineman talked about the prosecutions tonight, it definitely seemed like he's part of the media club that is against investigations. Since Fineman has been off before, I won't trust what he says.....hopefully good comes out of this, I'm going to refrain from characterizing until the full game plays out I guess.

[DevonRex]

6. ...

:eyes:

[jewishlibrl]

8. Very good points

And I'd like to add that it's possible that President Obama may have told Rahm and Gibbs that he opposed prosecuting Bush officials, and backtracked when a storm ensued. That possibility must not be discarded.

[DevonRex]

10. Hmm.

:eyes:

[ErinBerin84]

11. I'm not sure

what Obama thinks should be done, but the Newsweek article about Holder seriously considering prosecutions went online on Saturday, while the Rahm and Gibbs comments were on Sunday/Monday. Not sure about whether it's just good cop/bad cop or a disagreement, but that's how it went in terms of timelines.

[Avalux]

13. Yeah, Obama is weak that way. Scared of his own shadow I think.

:eyes:

[Cha]

17. Oh, fuck that..you

don't know what the fuck you're going on about.

[Skittles]

24. that's a plausible scenario

[Cha]

9. Yeah, if you want to be a dumb

fuck advocate.

[Political Tiger]

12. OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL:

The position of Attorney General was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789. In June 1870 Congress enacted a law entitled “An Act to Establish the Department of Justice.” This Act established the Attorney General as head of the Department of Justice and gave the Attorney General direction and control of U.S. Attorneys and all other counsel employed on behalf of the United States. The Act also vested in the Attorney General supervisory power over the accounts of U.S. Attorneys and U.S. Marshals.

The mission of the Office of the Attorney General is to supervise and direct the administration and operation of the Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Bureau of Prisons, Office of Justice Programs, and the U.S. Attorneys and U.S. Marshals Service, which are all within the Department of Justice.

The principal duties of the Attorney General are to:

Represent the United States in legal matters.

Supervise and direct the administration and operation of the offices, boards, divisions, and bureaus that comprise the Department.

Furnish advice and opinions, formal and informal, on legal matters to the President and the Cabinet and to the heads of the executive departments and agencies of the government, as provided by law.

Make recommendations to the President concerning appointments to federal judicial positions and to positions within the Department, including U.S. Attorneys and U.S. Marshals.

Represent or supervise the representation of the United States Government in the Supreme Court of the United States and all other courts, foreign and domestic, in which the United States is a party or has an interest as may be deemed appropriate.

Perform or supervise the performance of other duties required by statute or Executive Order.

http://www.usdoj.gov/jmd/mps/manual/ag.htm

[zipplewrath]

14. Unfair characterization

I'm one who has questioned Obama's point of view on this subject. But I'm not sure it's fair to use such an expression. About the strongest point of view I might express is that he felt the whole thing was spinning out of control and he should let this be handled at the AG level. By weighing in personally, he was placing the presidency smack in the middle of the conflict, bringing with it all manner of implications. At worse, it was spilling an internal conflict out into the public. And possibly, it was causing him to take positions, before the AG had been given an opportunity to establish more formal opinions.

[vaberella]

15. You're full of it. It's not worth the time. n/t

[emulatorloo]

16. Oh for heaven's sakes . . . don't you have anything better to do?

Shouldn't you be taking the dogs out or going to the grocery store or doing something constructive?

[Fire1]

18. Fail.

[Occam Bandage]

19. "Here is an argument that I admit is bad." nt

[Hutzpa]

20. Devil's Advocate???

This sounds like lost in translation, looks like you're searching for ideas.

Why would the President doing the right things makes him look as if he is passing
the buck? what? are you suggesting this is too big a job for Holder????

Either that or you're looking for a new talking point, oh! by the way, Obama never
mentioned anything about prosecuting,only the media and republicans assumes he was
not going to when Rahm and Gibbs said something about looking forward.

[AtomicKitten]

21. He facilitated appointing a Special Prosecutor. That goes through the Justice Dept.

I bask in your pessimism.

[BlooInBloo]

22. Sayeth the fool who has no idea what the DoJ is *supposed* to be like.

[Hekate]

23. Write 100 times: There are 3 branches of the Federal government, and they are...

Executive, Legislative, and Judicial, and the Constitution gives them equal powers.

Which one do you think SHOULD be making decisions about investigating and prosecuting crimes?

Hekate