Patronage 'crime' does pay -- for Justice Dept.

[maddezmom]

Patronage 'crime' does pay -- for Justice Dept.

March 25, 2007
BY CAROL MARIN Sun-Times Columnist
Patronage is a dirty word in Chicago but apparently not in Washington, D.C. I know this because I've been reading some of the 3,000 pages of documents the Bush administration reluctantly gave to Congress last week in the wake of the widening scandal over its firing of eight U.S. attorneys who didn't toe the proper political line.

~snip~

Patronage, after all, can be a useful tool in shutting people up. Consider the cases of two of the recently whacked federal prosecutors, Margaret Chiara, the U.S. attorney in Grand Rapids, Mich., and Daniel Bogden, the U.S. attorney in Nevada.

When all hell started to break loose over the firings, Justice officials began to scramble, looking for ways to put a lid on what was quickly becoming a firestorm.

~snip~

For 12 years, he was the U.S. attorney for Western Michigan. A Republican, Smietanka was first appointed by President Ronald Reagan, then reappointed by President George H.W. Bush. He understands and believes in a president's right to hire and fire U.S. attorneys, but, as he testified before Congress earlier this month in the wake of the scandal, ''the removal of United States attorney by fiat . . . should be approached carefully and may have consequences.''

On the phone last week, Smietanka was even more blunt about the firings, saying, ''The people who did it deserve to get roasted.''

more:http://www.suntimes.com/news/marin/311098,CST-EDT-carol25.article

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Sounds like the negative reaction to the firings

goes all the way down the line. Glad to see that some Republicans are waking up to what Bush is doing.

[Stuckinthebush]

2. Yet he still has many defenders

Just look at FOX news. It is amazing and sad that people are so ignorant about our country and constitution. They would willfully allow this bumbling idiot to subvert everything that this country was built on to make money and protect their friends.

Pitiful people.

[Wilber_Stool]

3. I think we might be surprised

if this makes it to the SCOTUS. Lawyers seldom eat their own.