Friday, May 30, 2008

Bushies Face Bipartisan Pressure

One of the biggest misconceptions about the evolving Bush Justice Department scandal is that it is driven by partisan liberals.

In fact, the scandal was initiated by, and partially driven by, Republicans--the kind that are honest, bipartisan servants of the American people. Yes, they do exist.

Remember, the first victims of the Bush DOJ were nine fired U.S. attorneys--all Republicans. The hero of the effort to shine light on the political prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman is north Alabama attorney Jill Simpson, a longstanding Republican. One of the most eloquent spokesmen on issues related to the Siegelman case has been former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods, a Republican. And the primary chronicler of Bush DOJ sleaze, Scott Horton of Harper's, has gone out of his way to point out that he is a former corporate lawyer and hardly a "whacky liberal." (Whatever that is.)

Now we have a new example of bipartisanship in the effort to drain the murky swamp Bushies have created at Justice. Twenty former U.S. attorneys, both Democrats and Republicans, have urged a federal judge to intervene in a constitutional battle over whether former White House officials Harriet Miers and Joshua Bolten should testify before Congress about the firings of the nine U.S. attorneys.

This comes on the heels of 50-some former state attorneys general, of both parties, stepping up to raise questions about the apparent political nature of the Siegelman prosecution.

So honest Republicans, noble people who are concerned about justice, do exist. And they are making their voices heard. My guess is that they will play a critical role in the process of unveiling the corruption that permeates the Bush Justice Department.

The George W. Bush Administration should be an embarrassment to all Americans. And no one knows that like honest Republicans.

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