The United States Attorney General
The Office of Attorney General of the United States is the top law enforcement position in the country. That office has historically had some trouble and maybe more than its share in recent years. Go back just one AG and you find the still well known John Ashcroft. We know he can play piano and a sing a bit, but what else do we know about him?
ASHCROFT, John David, a Senator from Missouri; born in Chicago, Ill., on May 9, 1942; attended the public schools in Springfield, Missouri; graduated from Yale University 1964; received J.D. degree from University of Chicago School of Law 1967; admitted to the bar in Springfield 1967; taught business law at Southwest Missouri State University; state auditor of Missouri 1973-1975; attorney general of Missouri 1976-1985; Governor of Missouri 1985-1993; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1994 and served from January 3, 1995 to January 3, 2001; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 2000; attorney general of the United States, 2001-2005.
After reading that one could say it is an ordinary or typical resume for a career lawyer or politician. So why was he called a minister of fear in a report by CBS news in June 2002. They claim he used fear tactics to control the news cycle and make himself look good. That was after the Padilla arrest. They also say after Al Muhajir was arrested a dirty bomb plot was thwarted. Then they say he was disciplined by the Whitehouse for exagerrating according to “sources”. You know what you can do with your anonymous sources. They may be right or wrong and may exist or not and since we can’t tell the assumption should be the press is making it up. Not like that never happened before. Right Dan?
In many ways John Ashcroft may have been handed a bum rap. The politics of Washington and the myriad games being played may have made him a handy target for all the others managing their careers. But that’s yesterdays news. What about now.
Gonzales Yields On Hiring Interim U.S. Attorneys
March 9, 2007
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales agreed yesterday to change the way U.S. attorneys can be replaced, a reversal in administration policy that came after he was browbeaten by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee still angry over the controversial firings of eight federal prosecutors.
Going back just to Thursday starts our brief chronology. First of all, we can expect some other members of the Federal government to step up when another member is outed to have done something wrong. The problem with all these outings is the appearance of shock and outrage. It’s like the deal with ‘Curveball’. Not even going to get into that story, but why is everyone saying they were told this or that? When you are about to present your justification for waging war on another country, even if the argument is valid, as a backup you would want to have everyone ’signed off’ on the decision rather than verbal evidence. Same here, if attorneys are being fired, where is the paper trail and how does Gonzales come off using the tired old CEO excuse that he can’t know everything that is going on in the DOJ?
That will suffice for the start of our look at the good ‘ol US AG.
Stanford Matthews
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