[NCAces]

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One cannot understate the damage that firing US Attorneys for political reasons does to the rule of law in this country. I am dismayed that some intelligent people who posted above do not see this. This is one of the worst things that this administration has ever done, and there's a lot of competition for that title.

Editing to add that I am heartened by the fact that senators on both sides of the aisle are lining up not simply to denounce this but to demand Mr. Gonzalez's resignation.

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Ok, you can argue that any President firing US Attorneys (USA) for political reasons is a bad idea. That is a fair argument, and I'd love to hear why you think it is so bad for the rule of law.

Personally, I don't see it being that big of a deal unless it is abused. The new USAs will continue to go after the same real bad guys the old USAs went after. Where they will differ is their aggressiveness with respect to certain issues that relate more to policy than criminality. It appears for example, that one of the USAs that was fired refused to investigate the alleged voting irregularities in Washington State. If the President doesn't think that his appointee is getting the job done investigating voter fraud, then he should act accordingly. Another example would have been some of the southern USAs that Kennedy replaced because they were not being aggressive enough enforcing civil rights laws in the deep south. Should he not have had the right to replace them with USAs who were more aggressive in going after the KKK, etc?

Could the administration have overplayed its hand? Sure, if they let an USA go who was being overly aggressive to a friend of POTUS or something that obvious, then they would have a perception and PR problem. But that does not appear to be the problem here. In fact, I have not yet read an article in which any of the numb-nuts on the Hill have explained why they have their panties in a wad.

What can't be argued is that this administration has done anything unprecedented here. As has been pointed out, this has always been the way it is at the Federal level. Most administrations do it over a long period of time to minimize the disruption it can cause. Clinton did surprise everyone by simply asking for all 90+ USAs to resign and be out of their offices within 7 days. But, he had the ability to do so. Candidly, many conservatives wondered why Bush left so many of the existing USAs in place.

A good friend of mine that I went to law school with is the Acting USA in Atlanta. I can assure you that she was surprised when, as a democrat, she was not replaced. As for politics coming into play here, she is one of the top legal minds in the country who will surely be raised to the level of a Federal District/Circuit Judge at some point ... problem is that as a Democrat she has to wait for a Democratic POTUS. At this level politics is ever present.

NCAces