Fire Gonzales And Rove

Now, the Attorney General and his Justice Department have claimed that the firings were performance-related. However, the real reason for this prosecutorial purge appears to be to punish these attorneys for failing to indict Democratic candidates in the lead up to the November 2006 election. The plan in essence was to create a swirling atmosphere of unethical controversy surrounding Democratic candidates that would soil their characters in the minds of the electorate.

CORRUPTION

Here we go again.

The Bush people have made serialized scandal into an art form. We are faced with yet another with White House footprints leading to it.             

The latest outrage involves orchestrating a political purge of U.S. attorneys, including eight who failed to fulfill Administration objectives. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is being fingered by many who say he should step down. One sacrificial lamb—former Gonzales Chief of Staff, Kyle Sampson—has already been served up.

But as evidence emerges that “Bush’s Brain� Karl Rove, the man who is so smart to be evil, was the real architect of these firings, and with the looming prospects of congressional subpoenas, will Gonzales also be asked to walk the plank?

Republican apologists have claimed that this is much ado about nothing. They assert that new presidents often fire many prosecutors when they take office. This is true. However, the difference here is that these firings didn’t happen at the start of a presidential cycle. In fact, the firing of these prosecutors during the last throes of this White House is, perhaps, unprecedented.

Now, the Attorney General and his Justice Department have claimed that the firings were performance-related. However, the real reason for this prosecutorial purge appears to be to punish these attorneys for failing to indict Democratic candidates in the lead up to the November 2006 election. The plan in essence was to create a swirling atmosphere of unethical controversy surrounding Democratic candidates that would soil their characters in the minds of the electorate. This plan was no doubt engineered by the White House Architect of Evil himself: Karl Rove.    

Rove’ plan was clearly to create a backlash designed to avert voter dissatisfaction with Republicans and this wretched White House and the continuing fiasco in Iraq. The plan failed because some of these prosecutors didn’t play ball. Of course, we all know what happened next: American voters administered bloody beatings, bouncing Republican after Republican from office.     

It’s instructive here to remember the plethora of corruption that many congressional Republicans were involved in. First there is the Tom Delay saga. Nicknamed “The Hammer,� Delay was the House Majority Leader from 2003-2006, before the powerful Texan’s political career imploded in a whirlwind of duplicitous connections.    

In 2005, Delay was indicted, in his home state of Texas, on charges of conspiracy to violate election laws and money laundering and conspiracy to engage in money laundering. In May, 2005, a judge said that Delay had violated a state law when he hadn’t disclosed over $600,000 in campaign funds. Delay was also involved in accepting illegal political contributions. Some of this money was used in a campaign that called for the arrest of Democratic legislators from the state of Texas. Anything here sound familiar?    

Delay is also mixed up with the infamous K Street Project. The K Street Project was an undertaking meant to expand Republican access and influence among the powerful lobbyists that set the agenda in Washington. It is often here where influence peddling through political patronage payoffs starts. This is also where Jack Abramoff’s corruption case comes in.    

The influence of Abramoff in Republican circles was huge. During his lobbying activities he swindled Native Americans out some $85 million dollars. Of this amount he spread some $4.4 million among those who stroll congressional halls.     

True, he did lavish some of this money on a few Democrats like Harry Reid and Byron Dorgan, but most of the ill-gotten gains he parceled out on Capitol Hill were given to Republicans. Tom Delay of Texas, Bob Ney of Ohio, John Doolittle of California, J.D. Hayworth of Arizona and Conrad Burns of Mont were all implicated beneficiaries of Abramoff’s largess. But there is another powerful player in Washington that Abramoff had connections to: President Bush.    

When the Abramoff scandal first surfaced this Bush claimed that he hardly knew him. But that was another lie now wasn’t it?  Abramoff was on Bush’s Transition Advisory Team of 2001, which was assigned to the Department of the Interior.  And during 2001, Abramoff’s lobbying team got over 200 contracts from the Bush Administration.    

These combined scandals along with the ongoing debacle in Iraq threatened the stranglehold of power that this White House was wielding with the approaching 2006 elections. Karl Rove knew that. Therefore, a devious strategy had to be devised. What better way to nullify the Republican scandals than to create a climate of scandals around Democrats? 

Therefore, these firings are punishments for attorneys who deviated from the plan. So, what’s next? Hey, Nancy, is impeachment still off the table?
  

Benjamin is a member of The Black Star News’ Editorial Board.

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