...the Patriot Act allows for the indefinite appointment of an interim U.S. Attorney without Senate approval...
The newly appointed U.S. Attorneys did not undergo a confirmation before the U.S. Senate as required by the constitution - instead the U.S. Attorneys were appointed by President Bush under a provision of the Patriot Act, which allows for the indefinite appointment of an interim U.S. Attorney without Senate approval.
It's one thing to practice political patronage by putting your political cronies in important positions like FEMA, but a different kettle of fish when the Executive Branch of our government starts to use U.S. prosecuters to extend their political power.
The United States Department of Justice website states - "United States Attorneys are appointed by, and serve at the discretion of, the President of the United States, with advice and consent of the United States Senate."
Tim Griffin, the recently installed U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas is an example of what U.S. citizens got as a result of the political sleight of hand that George Bush's administration pulled off by using the Patriot act provision to stack the deck with politically compliant, partisan and in the case of Mr. Griffen, possibly racist - U.S. Attorneys.
From a March 26th article in the "New Yorker" by Jane Mayer -
"A former research director for the Republican National Committee and an aide to Karl Rove, the White House political adviser, Griffin had relatively little prosecutorial experience. Nonetheless, e-mails between Justice Department and White House officials show that Bush Administration officials pushed out Griffin’s well-respected predecessor, H. E. (Bud) Cummins, to make room for Griffin, in part because “it was important to . . . Karl [Rove], etc.”
Griffin did not undergo a confirmation process before the Senate Judiciary Committee, as is required by the Constitution. Instead, the President appointed him under a little-noticed provision of the 2006 renewal of the Patriot Act, which allows for the indefinite appointment of an interim U.S. Attorney without Senate approval. Ostensibly, the provision was intended to be used in situations where national security might be at stake, such as the death of a sitting U.S. Attorney resulting from a terrorist attack.
As early as last summer, Justice Department officials worried that Griffin’s past as an opposition researcher for the Republicans might make him unconfirmable. (A Justice Department staffer wrote in an e-mail, in reference to the plan to install Griffin, “We have a senator prob.”) In congressional hearings last month, Mark Pryor, a Democratic senator from Arkansas, raised concerns about newspaper accounts of Griffin’s political work, which, he said, has “been characterized as ‘caging’ African-American votes. This arises from allegations that Mr. Griffin and others in the R.N.C. were targeting African-Americans in Florida for voter challenges during the 2004 Presidential campaign.”
__________________________________________
George Bush is taking a fair amount of criticism (justifiably so) for surrounding himself with true believers.
On the plus side, by doing so is teaching us a valuable lesson in the value of diversity.
If we are trying to come up with the best solutions to our challenges, there's really no point in gathering a group of people who think exactly like we do.
We shouldn't agree on everything, and we shouldn't become ditto heads who use other people's talking points in lieu of thinking for ourselves.
We need to champion diversity. We all have something to bring to the table. By insulating ourselves from diverse opinions and ideas we end up with bad decisions made by people who are afraid of being culled from the herd if they speak up, and in the worst cases we end up with insanity like the KKK or Nazism.
Unfortunately for citizens of the United States and the world, the Bush administration's legacy will be that they taught us what happens when Sock Puppets not only take center stage in the political arena but are allowed to take over our government.
If only George Bush would have learned about Abraham Lincoln surrounding himself with dissenters in is Team of Rivals
, or FDR's Brain Trust.
George Bush is taking a fair amount of criticism (justifiably so) for surrounding himself with true believers.
On the plus side, by doing so is teaching us a valuable lesson in the value of diversity.
If we are trying to come up with the best solutions to our challenges, there's really no point in gathering a group of people who think exactly like we do.
We shouldn't agree on everything, and we shouldn't become ditto heads who use other people's talking points in lieu of thinking for ourselves.
We need to champion diversity. We all have something to bring to the table. By insulating ourselves from diverse opinions and ideas we end up with bad decisions made by people who are afraid of being culled from the herd if they speak up, and in the worst cases we end up with insanity like the KKK or Nazism.
Unfortunately for citizens of the United States and the world, the Bush administration's legacy will be that they taught us what happens when Sock Puppets not only take center stage in the political arena but are allowed to take over our government.
If only George Bush would have learned about Abraham Lincoln surrounding himself with dissenters in is Team of Rivals
, or FDR's Brain Trust._____________________________________
p.s. I was thinking about titling this post "Sock Monkey Rides Again" but that's already been taken.
Sock Monkey Rides Again is a book by Cece Bell. It gets 5 stars and sounds pretty good -
"Sock Monkey makes a new friend, and everybody gets along. If only real life were that simple!" —Martha Simpson, Stratford Library Association, CT
Sock Monkey Rides Again is a book by Cece Bell. It gets 5 stars and sounds pretty good -"Sock Monkey makes a new friend, and everybody gets along. If only real life were that simple!" —Martha Simpson, Stratford Library Association, CT
__________________________________________
George W. Bush's current term ends on January 20, 2009
