The Partisan Game Called "Let's Destroy the Entire White House!"

The partisan game called "Let's Destroy the Entire White House!" is well underway.  But don't let the term "game" fool you.  It's deadly serious, and it will do real damage to many lives and to our nation as a whole if it continues.

The game has been going on for years, of course, but now that Democrats control Congress, subpoenas are flying out the door in a series of "oversight" fishing expeditions, the goal of which is to find ways to embarrass the administration, undermine its policies, and demand the resignations of all key White House officials.  And when no real scandal is apparent, partisans simply resort to making them up.  The U.S. Attorney kerfuffle is a case in point.

The U.S. Attorney Fake Scandal

The fuss about fired U.S. attorneys is pure partisan gamesmanship:

It's getting old. It's hurting my ears. It's wasting our tax dollars. This partisan fighting in Washington just has to end. There is business, I presume, to take care of in the halls of Congress. Finding fake issues and feeding them to the news machines is not what we elected our senators and members of Congress to do.

Taking issue with everything the Bush administration attempts to do and labeling it as wrong, illegal, a challenge to our civil rights or overreaching one's authority has become a partisan mantra built on fake issues.

Fake issue No. 1: the hoopla being made over Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' firing of several U.S. attorneys. Critics -- otherwise known as left-leaning Democrats -- are holding hearings into just why the federal prosecutors were fired.

Now, the Democrats know that U.S. attorneys serve at the pleasure of the administration. They also know that President Bill Clinton had his attorney general, Janet Reno, fire all 93 U.S. attorneys when he was in the White House -- marking the first time such a mass firing was ever ordered by any administration. Prior to that, prosecutors were replaced when their terms had lapsed or the attorney general decided it was time to bring in a replacement.  . . . .

So why all the hoopla over Gonzales firing these U.S. attorneys? Why are some partisans declaring that Gonzales should step down from the post? They know that the attorney general could legally fire all 93 U.S. attorneys. They've seen it happen. They're just counting on you not knowing nor remembering it.

The hoopla isn't about these U.S. attorneys. The flak we're being served on a daily basis simply has to do with politics. It has to do with control. It has to do with winning at all costs. It has to do with 2008 and making certain they win in 2008.

This partisan fighting isn't about getting things done for us, the taxpayers; it's about taking control for themselves, the candidates.

Tell them to forget it.

Tell them to stop the partisan fighting and get some work done.

Your tax dollars are paying for it -- and for them.

While I'm not actually keen on seeing the Democratic Party-controlled Congress "get some work done" -- since the results of their best efforts are likely to be expensive, painful to economic and personal freedom, and destructive to our national security -- I certainly agree that manufacturing pretended scandals in an effort to destroy the entire White House is deeply wrong.

It is one thing to identify a real scandal and deal with it.  It is another to make them up out of whole cloth and promote them hypocritically with the help of the liberal mainstream media.  That shows a willingness to do anything for power -- which does not speak well of the partisans wielding the hatchets.  It also shows extremely poor judgment.  It makes suspect everything else these partisans say.

How many good, decent men and women will be pointlessly damaged or destroyed by this process?  The White House should make sure that it does not join in the process of dismantling itself.  There is no amount of red meat that will satisfy the hyenas.  Thankfully, President Bush finally seems to be realizing that, if his address Tuesday on the resignations of U.S. Attorneys is any indication:

As you know, I have broad discretion to replace political appointees throughout the government, including U.S. attorneys. And in this case, I appointed these U.S. attorneys and they served four-year terms.

The Justice Department, with the approval of the White House, believed new leadership in these positions would better serve our country. The announcement of this decision and the subsequent explanation of these changes has been confusing and, in some cases, incomplete. Neither the Attorney General, nor I approve of how these explanations were handled. We're determined to correct the problem.   . . . .

The initial response by Democrats, unfortunately, shows some appear more interested in scoring political points than in learning the facts. It will be regrettable if they choose to head down the partisan road of issuing subpoenas and demanding show trials when I have agreed to make key White House officials and documents available. I have proposed a reasonable way to avoid an impasse. I hope they don't choose confrontation. I will oppose any attempts to subpoena White House officials.

As we cut through all the partisan rhetoric, it's important to maintain perspective on a couple of important points. First, it was natural and appropriate for members of the White House staff to consider and to discuss with the Justice Department whether to replace all 93 U.S. attorneys at the beginning of my second term. The start of a second term is a natural time to discuss the status of political appointees within the White House and with relevant agencies, including the Justice Department. In this case, the idea was rejected and was not pursued.

Second, it is common for me, members of my staff, and the Justice Department to receive complaints from members of Congress in both parties, and from other citizens. And we did hear complaints and concerns about U.S. attorneys. Some complained about the lack of vigorous prosecution of election fraud cases, while others had concerns about immigration cases not being prosecuted. These concerns are often shared between the White House and the Justice Department, and that is completely appropriate.  . . . .

It's now my hope that the United States Congress will act appropriately. . . . . It's not too late for Democrats to drop the partisanship and work together. Democrats now have to choose whether they will waste time and provoke an unnecessary confrontation, or whether they will join us in working to do the people's business. There are too many important issues, from funding our troops to comprehensive immigration reform, to balancing the budget, for us to accomplish on behalf of the American people.

A very reasonable response to intense partisan provocation.  But this won't be the end of it.  Partisans will continue to promote this fake scandal and others for the sole purpose of destroying the Administration and building their own power.

Why It Matters

Ah, but if tearing the White House apart with accusations of scandal works, why should Democrats care? 

Democrats should care because it's wrong to destroy people for no reason. 

Last time I checked, most Democrats still cared about right and wrong.

Democrats should care because America, along with the rest of Western civilization, remains a prime target of terrorists.  We need a strong White House to fight that threat.  Providing for our national security with both a strong offense and a strong defense is a job that 435 mini-generals in Congress can't do.  They can't even help indirectly, if they wake up every day instead looking for their next victim in the White House.

It's not an accident that there has been not a single successful terrorist attack on American soil since September 11th -- more than five years on.  It is an incredible testament to this Administration's daily efforts at all levels.  Yet the margin of that success -- which too many on the left now take for granted -- is incredibly thin.  Remember, the terrorists only have to succeed once to kill thousands or more.  We have to succeed 100% of the time. 

Those has kept America safe, thus far, from another September 11th? A few heroic individuals have helped, to be sure -- like the flight attendant and passengers who stopped Richard Reid, the shoe bomber.  But as far as the federal government goes, it isn't the courts that keep us safe from terrorist attack.  Nor is it Congress.  The credit belongs solely to the executive branch -- the only branch that can do anything under the Constitution.  Attacking the White House on a daily basis is like whacking off your own arms and legs, and then wondering why you can't get anything done.

Don't tell me that "the right does it too! -- look at how they attacked Bill Clinton!"  That comparison won't fly.  Clinton was attacked for two things:  (a) a long history of dishonesty which included lying about a relationship with a White House intern to a grand jury under oath and (b) his policies. 

Lying to a grand jury will get anybody in trouble.  Ask Scooter Libby.  And disagreeing with policies is legitimate debate.  That is what our democracy is all about.  But attempting to criminalize the entire administration is something else.  The left literally has "criminalized" the entire White House by claiming, for starters, that George Bush took power "illegally" because Al Gore "won the popular vote" and "should have won" in Florida.  It has gone downhill from there.   For the partisans on the left, it is not an exaggeration to say that Bush literally can do nothing right.

Where does that kind of division leave our country?  The only thing holding us together is the fact that the Administration has kept its eye on the ball in the war on terror in spite of the constant yipping at its heels, and has not fought back viciously against its critics.

When this administration is gone -- whether it is a Republican or Democrat who replaces Bush in the White House -- all bets are off.  The same partisans attacking Bush on a daily basis will either switch to the next Republican president for their next round of attacks or, if a Democrat is elected, will quickly learn that 99% of what those partisans are demanding won't be implemented with Democrats in charge either -- not if the Democrats in power have any sense, which I think they still do on at least some issues.  The fury that erupts will be enormous.  And the extreme restraint Bush has shown toward the political enemies out to destroy him is something we are unlikely to find again soon.  That is a rare quality of personal character. 

I've had commenters at this website argue with me that Bush isn't kind toward his political opponents because, in one speech, he referred to a "Democrat" Party rather than the "Democratic" party.  The weakness of that example is very telling.  In reality, Bush is one of the most civil, polite presidents in his public remarks toward political adversaries that America has ever known.  We should appreciate that quality in our president now, for it will soon be gone.  If you don't believe me now, wait a few years and you'll see the contrast for yourself.

We have, at this moment, a fragile victory in the war on terror.  We have thus far prevented a repeat of September 11th on American soil.  We have established democracies in two countries that were ruled by virulent enemies of America -- Afghanistan and Iraq.  We are beginning to get the sectarian violence in Iraq under control.  The headlines that used to trumpet high daily body counts are less frequent and more vague -- have you noticed?  They don't announce that violence has dropped off dramatically -- they just say nothing about the absence of a high body count and substitute in a story offering up doom and gloom from a different angle.

We have a chance to have it all here -- national security and prosperity and a pretty good life for ourselves.  But there are some who seem hell-bent on throwing it all away.  They are endlessly discontented.  Endlessly angry.  They don't realize how lucky and blessed they are to be living in America today.  They don't realize that these are the good old days.

Do you realize how fragile life is?  I was reminded this week when I learned of the death of a dear friend, a mother with young children, from an illness she didn't even know she had six months ago.

We take our lives for granted.  We take the life of our nation for granted, too.  We shouldn't.  America's continued existence is no more guaranteed than was the existence of the Soviet Union .  The U.S.S.R. was an immutable, permanent world superpower when I was a child -- until it suddenly fell away.

Don't take it for granted.  Not your life, and not the life of your nation.

These are the good old days.  Enjoy them while they last. 

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Tags:  George W. Bush Bill Clinton White House firing resigned U.S. us attorneys attorney general prosecutors Alberto Gonzales Gonzalez atty gen eight 8 fake scandal house subpena subpoena