Running Massacre?

And the Clixons canned how many US atty's open their regime change?

Hello?

Anyone homer?

Leftist loon crapola.

Compared the the Clinton reaming of the standing DOJ help, this IS a non-starter.

Next!

"But it's far more likely that Griffin's appointment was an act of patronage -- a reward for meritorious service in the political trenches on the president's behalf -- than it was a sinister effort to undermine Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign."

Why is it "far more likely" just "patronage?" We're to believe that it's "far more likely" just a coincidence that a high GOP opposition researcher has been placed in a job that gives him access to all of the Clinton investigation files?
Don't be naive....

"In the case of Arkansas, where both U.S. Senators are Democrats, there's little chance that Griffin will be in his job for long. The same is true in the Southern District of California, where Carol Lam, who sent former GOP Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham to jail, has been forced out."

Don't be naive. The "interim" USA's are in their offices right now and will continue to be until such time as Bush and the home state senators agree on replacements. In the meantime, active ongoing investigations by Lam will be delayed as the "interim" USA gets up to speed (and delayed again if/when a permanent replacement is confirmed).

""But it's far more likely that Griffin's appointment was an act of patronage -- a reward for meritorious service in the political trenches on the president's behalf -- than it was a sinister effort to undermine Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign."

What evidence do you have to support this assertion?

Thanks in advance should any facts come forth.

Jay,

Isn't it customary to consulate the Congressional delegation of the state wherein the USA is appointed. Isn't it noteworthy, then, that neither Senator Pryor nor the sole Republican member of the Arkansas delegation was asked for USA nominations?

Jay has a good point.

This isn't a real conspiracy like Hillary Clinton canceling her press conference because Obama is announcing he's creating an exploratory committee.

Dumb liberals.

"In the case of Arkansas, where both U.S. Senators are Democrats, there's little chance that Griffin will be in his job for long."

Wait a minute. Didn't you say under the Patriot Act loophole Griffin and others could stay at their jobs without getting confirmed until Bush leaves office.

Something is very fishy.

"This isn't a real conspiracy like Hillary Clinton canceling her press conference because Obama is announcing he's creating an exploratory committee."

There is a big difference between a conspiracy theory put forth by those from the "professional political class" versus those promulgated by dirty, hippie bloggers.

Jay, please explain why a dirty trick/political mud slinging Rove aide being put into Arkansas isn't more than it seems?

Report on it. If Josh Marshall is wrong, document it. You saying that Rove is putting him there because Rove is a nice guy isn't exactly a convincing argument.

Secondly, veteran prosecutors, US Attorneys have come forward saying that what is being done in San Diego and Nevada for example is unheard of, and disgusting. Career people are pissed. The head of the FBI office in San Diego has gone on the record bashing the White House.

But, silly Josh Marshall is full of it. Please actually investigate the story, or maybe you should work harder on the Hillary cell phone conspiracy theory.

I know the Arkansas Times reported last week that many Arkansas lawyers were very disappointed at Bud Cummins replacement. They were wanting a local that people were familiar with, as Bud was from his years in the Lege. That doesn't jibe with the "patronage" theory - the local Republican that was expected to be appointed was passed over for an outsider.

What an incredibly naive and blinkered piece.

You get paid to write this junk, Jay?

Does anyone actually buy your line? (That is, anyone not already disposed to changing the subject to Clinton as soon as it's raised?

Boy, I can't wait until the machine you are a part of is decommissioned.

An administration under siege looking to forestall future investigations into its past & current corrupt and unconstitutional excesses would do exactly this -- stack the deck with stooges who will look the other way and spend time doing political hack-work; prosecuting illegal aliens, pornographers, & marijuana gowers; and protecting their sponsors from justice. Why should anyone paying attention to the regime's 6yrs of sociopathy expect anything other than malfeasance in this arena?

Time has evidently decided to get into the business of "catapulting the propaganda," as our Dear Leader once memorably put it.

I don't think it cares about its credibility any more.

P.S. Tell us again how Bush is going to listen to the findings Baker-Hamilton Report, Time. Jeez, my Magic 8-Ball is more incisive.

What a stupid effing article. The commercial media seem bound and determined to make themselves irrelevant. There are those who say that they're doomed by the trend of history or something like that, but my opinion is that they're doomed because of the kind of people they hire.

If these dismissals are much ado about nothing, then why was is SO VERY VERY important that Arlen Specter insert the language - at the insistance of AG Gonzales - allowing near-perpetual recess appointments in the reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act?

Yup. Nothing shady here. Silly Carol Lam. She wasted her time chasing after corrupt Congressman instead of smugglers. They forced her out before she could waste even more time investigating people like Congressman Jerry Lewis or Brent Wilkes. This is a great way to send a message to the next US attorney: you better focus on our top priority of prosecuting smugglers or else. Smugglers are where it's at!

So, these folks like Griffin have taken jobs that will last only a month or two, eh?

You really believe that? They're in for good, to avoid Senate confirmation.

"If these dismissals are much ado about nothing, then why was is SO VERY VERY important that Arlen Specter insert the language - at the insistance of AG Gonzales - allowing near-perpetual recess appointments in the reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act?"

In the dead of night, with no debate, either. Even Specter hasn't come forward with a perfectly innocent explanation of why he snuck the language in.

Time: Please listen to these posts: WE ARE NOT BUYING THE BS. PLEASE STOP PROVIDING A FORUM FOR IT.

SWAMPLAND.

How appropriate.

Oh, you meant DC. . . .

Jay, could you give us a little more insight into this theory that 'the justice dept. will hold to its promise' of submitting nominees for confirmation, eventhough Sen. Specter slipped a law into the Patriot Act that says they don't have to get confirmation.
I'd like to know, given the history of the past 6 yrs. of this administration avoiding any accountability why it would submit to it now.
Please Jay, explain this one to me.

Jay...giving this administration the benefit of the doubt has proved to be a VERY dangerous thing in the last 6 years. And, isn't it the press's obligation to question every move our elected officials make?

Does Jay Carney actually support Arlen Specter inserting a secret provision into the PATRIOT ACT that allows Bush/Gonzales to fire any US Attorneys--particularly ones who have subpoenaed Congressman in the Duke Cunningham case--so they can install others until Bush leaves office?! It's unconscionable; it's corruption at its core of our Justice System; and it's Jay Carney being incredibly obtuse!

So we've got USA's investigating corrupt Republican congressmen who suddenly get forced out to be replaced by a guy who owes his entire career to Bush. And the real story here is that SOME of the USA's being replaced are retiring, instead of being forced out? I swear, there isn't a bit of spin from the Bush White House that the beltway media won't buy into, hook, line, and sinker. If I'd known you could make good money working as a stenographer, I would've majored in "journalism" too. Stupid me.

The Mayberry Machiavellis strike again.

Jay...basically you are saying that Bush & Co. are playing by the rules, right? You just forgot to mention that they re-wrote the rules along the way, also right?

What Atrios said:

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_01_14_atrios_archive.html#116907806613476284

Jeez - you're almost as dumb as Joe Klein and that's saying something.

Jay: if you are simply a naif, you have my pity. If you are truly as clueless a Pollyanna as your comments regarding Tim Griffin make you seem, you are dangerous and contemptible. Where the hell have you been for the past six years?

Actually, the US Attorney from San Diego was forced out if you follow the link. But I"m sure that would have taken up too much of your precious time.

Hey Jay - why not post an update and respond to the substantive cricitisms of this post? Back it up!

Given all that we know of Bush's contempt for the judicial system provided us by our Constitution, I am stunned by Jay's certainty that there's nothing untoward afoot. Now, back to the REAL conspiracy, the cancelled Clinton presscon...

omg. Just see Atrios for the response to this absolute nonsense. That's all I have to say.

The real story here is the White House travel office firings ... Oh, God. I kill me.

Secondly, the Justice Department is saying, both to the media and directly to Democratic Senators, that the administration will follow the standard practice of submitting nominees for confirmation to fill the vacant posts, and that the nominees will be approved by home-state senators.

So the administration had Arlen Specter sneak a provision into the Patriot Act allowing them to appoint interim attorneys for unlimited duration, then they forced out at least four and possibly as many as seven US Attorneys within a month and appointed loyal hacks as unlimitied-duration interims. But you're saying not to worry because the administration's saying they'll follow the old rules -- the rules that they've gone to so much trouble to circumvent. Riiiight, Jay.

Here's my attempt at being a journalist for Time magazine:

talkingpointsmemo.com did a lot of important work uncovering a story that real magazines like mine totally whiffed on. But it's really just a liberal conspiracy theory. I know this because I called the Bush Justice Department and they told me so. And they're always right. Like the time when they said they didn't need to abide by FISA. And now they say they do.

Man, this job is awesome. C'mon Time--give a brother a chance here. I'll be better than Joke Line in no time.

Don't you worry your pretty little head, Jay.

We have *real* journalists to look into this, notably at TPM Muckraker
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/cats/us_attorneys/

Could this purging of 9th Circuit US Attorneys have anything to do with this story in the Washington Times:
`````````
"We're going to find out whose side you're on ... the American people or the side of our enemies," Mr. Rohrabacher said in a reference to Mr. Bush. "If you let these two men go to jail for defending us, then we'll know you're on the side of our enemies."
He was joined by Reps. Duncan Hunter of California, Ted Poe of Texas, Walter B. Jones of North Carolina, Joe Wilson of South Carolina and Tom Tancredo of Colorado.
In lieu of a pardon, a letter petitioning Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales was presented during the press conference asking the Justice Department to direct federal prosecutors not to oppose a motion filed in a Texas court to keep the agents free on bond during the appeals process.

```````````````
Link:
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20070110-112627-2988r.htm
Republicans seek to keep border agents out of jail
By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
January 11, 2007

Time Magazine totally missed the Cunningham scandal too, didn't it? The Dukester carried on his corruption for 7 years right under your nose. Your colleagues have been too busy obsessing about how next to smear the Clintons, I know. You don't have TIME for major stories.

RTS: "Jeez - you're almost as dumb as Joe Klein and that's saying something."

Indeed...

Dude...

How dumb are you?

One thing that is so frustrating in being lectured at by dumb people is that they think everyone is as dumb as they are. Don't you work for a company that is supposed to practice journalism? Are you begging to become irrelevant?
Whatever.

Even sports writers don't fall for the company line this bad. And I should know _ I am one. Whatever happened to skepticism?

Jay, have you done any actual reporting to back up your assertion that key US Attorneys weren't "forced out"? You know, trying to dig around for information from key people involved (like perhaps AUSAs or FBI personnel) rather than just stenographing the self-interested denials of those who are being accused of acting inappropriately?

And even if you are right, have you thought for a second that maybe there is something wrong with a "patronage" program where an unqualified partisan hack gets awarded the job of a federal district's top prosecutor, responsible for prosecuting terrorists, drug dealers, gun smugglers, corrupt politicians, fraudsters, organized criminals, and a host of other very important and dangerous criminals?

Oh, and did I mention that the unqualified partisan hack now gets the power of a federal subpoena?

"Anonymous" minds all of Time's totally inaccurate prediction that Baker-Hamilton (The Iraq Study Group) was going to be the template for Bush's new war plan. I remind readers of too of Time's continued trust in the integrity and veracity of flippity-floppety escalation gurus Joe Lieberman and John McCain. Can we just agree that, unlike its leadership during Vietnam and Watergate, Time now serves as a megaphone for hawkish Republican spin and click through to more relevant blogs?

Jay,

Thanks. My daughter's AP History class has been studying the role of communication and media in government. Today's homework was to find examples of "narrative using supposition or opinion to counter facts or substantative agruments of an opponent or opposing party." She appreciated your fine example of water carrying for Bush and your splendid bashing of democrats. Unfortunately, there are many of your ilk out there, and with so many articles to choose from I can't say for certain yours will be used for sure, but so far it has my vote.

I'm with Jay. Likewise Watergate was really nothing more than a two bit burglary.

And, more to the point, with regard to the Saturday night massacre, as
Jay puts it "in this case some liberals [saw] broad partisan conspiracies where none likely exist[ed]"

Jay would be right that Nixon firing two Attorney Generals was really, at bottom, all an innocent matter of political patronage. (How lucky for Robert Bork)

Running Massacre?

That would be a good title for your comment section.

You guys at Time might want to give up the blogging bidness. Everytime you post anything, it's like batting practice.

This is the difference between a democracy and a monarchy. A ruler who can fire a prosecutor and replace him or her with a hand-picked successor is above the rule of law. George Bush is our king now, and you think it's no big deal.

Disappointed, Jay. This is not the Jay Carney I used to know, back in the days when you were a knife salesman. Hmmm...I think you were more fun up to your elbows in coffee grounds looking for 2 lost checks, about 25 years ago...

What a moronic post. Not all of the USAs were forced out - but some were, including some who successfully prosecuted corrupt republicans and would likely have gotten more, including one of Cheney's cronies. And you see no problem.... Time should change it's motto to "The Blind Leading the Stupid"

I think these 'not for long' appointed will be in office for the remainder of the Bush Presidency, no?

Nice baby splitting on your part. It's probably wrong but it will only go on for two years so the 'massacre' language is too strong for Time. Far better to hedge and snark than dig and dig. After all it was Time Magazine that broke the Duke Cunningham scandal, right? Oh that's right - it was the local press that broke that one, not the veal that is our national press.

Tepid gruel is no substitute for hot scrutiny. Report more facts instead of reflexively opining 'it's probably nothing but even if it is it won't last all that long so what get excited?'.

That's the kind of dismissive crap we got from the press in the run up to the Iraq War. Guess what? The readers are sending that weak dish back to the cook. Step it up Carney. This is weak.

I believe, Mr. Carney, that you're the exactly the sort of man the term 'assclown' was invented for.

From Atrios:

"It isn't simply handing out goodies to supporters because of past service, it's a system of putting loyalists into positions of power to reduce the possibility that, say, they might investigate you and increase the possibility they might investigate your political opposition."

Did Tony Snow or Karl Rove ghostwrite this column?

There was a time when the role of the press was to question the powers that be; what we have now, as clearly demonstrated by this post as well as the sad record of the past 6 years, is a press that functions as a subordinate branch of the executive. I've lived in soft authoritarian countries like Mexico & Egypt, and what Time, as demonstrated by this ever-so-trusting post by Carney, and indeed this entire blog that focuses on the trivial (to put it kindly) is exactly the same, except a little less colorful, as what you find in the Mexico or Egypt. Self-censorship is alot easier, alot simpler & alot more effective than outright press regulation.

The question is whether our Republic can survive without an independent 4th Estate. The run-up to the Iraq Debacle would lead me to believe probably not; however grace a technolgy we may yet squeak by.

Nice job in the column, Jay. Armstrong Williams and Maggie Gallagher couldn't have said it better.

Collectively you guys should stick to something you know about. Giving the benefit of the doubt to the Worst President Ever & his gang of thieves doesn't make sense. Are you embarrassed that then we come to all you guys w/ the expectation of getting accurate analysis, the topics are restricted to AMs expertise in sex?

I don't know why everyone is so surprised...

The media hasn't been able to locate Google for the past six years, why should we expect them to actually discover the truth?

Let me guess, you believed Bush when he claimed Saddam had nuclear weapons?

"It's just patronage."

"It's just business."

Nice to know what the Swamp Things think of bidness in DC.

I can just about cope with donors and lickspittles getting cushy ambassadorships to Liechtenstein, but it'd be nice to know that, say, a person who might be prosecuting a Veep's former CoS in a smear-job case wasn't given his job after several years of running smear jobs.

You know, it's not too late to look into that SI gig.

There's another conspiratorial rumor going around suggesting that Time has started a political blog...

Thanks for disproving it.

Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton! Clinton!
See there in no conspiracy to stop the Bush admin investigations. I rest my case.

Reporting about real issues presented by this administration has reached an all time low. For a group that has screamed 1st Amendment Rights, protect my sources, and covered for the big time shills that pedaled the 'water' in return for insider interviews, I would think that the Dept. of Justice and the AG would not be allowed to fly below the radar. It is time to get real. I, personally, want to get beyond the Bushes and the Clintons and try to retrieve the Constitution and our National soul, ethics and self-respect. Do me a favor, don't check with Dobson first, as he has shown he doesn't have time to reprogram those that fall from grace.

Weimar America, welcome to the world of the captive media.

Frankly, the most appalling thing on this entire weblog page is this statement:

Jay Carney is Time's Washington bureau chief.

Are you kidding me? This blog is somehow connected to Time Warner? Whaaaaaaaaaa?

The hippies are coming, the hippies are coming! Whaaaa! The hippies are coming and they are going to get you!

Mr Carney, I encourage you to revisit this situation in 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 12 months, etc., when (barring a Congressional overturn of this law) these 'temporary' US attorneys are still in there. And then resign in shame and gullibility.

"And the Clixons canned how many US atty's open their regime change?"

And the Clintons got to appoint how many US Attorneys without the advice and consent of the Senate?

Righist loon crapola.

The following remarks were apparently made by John Swinton in 1880, then the preeminent New York journalist, probably one night in during that same year. Swinton was the guest of honour at a banquet given him by the leaders of his craft. Someone who knew neither the press nor Swinton offered a toast to the independent press. Swinton outraged his colleagues by replying:

"There is no such thing, at this date of the world's history, in America, as an independent press. You know it and I know it.

"There is not one of you who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinion out of the paper I am connected with. Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job. If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper, before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone.

"The business of the journalists is to destroy the truth, to lie outright, to pervert, to vilify, to fawn at the feet of mammon, and to sell his country and his race for his daily bread. You know it and I know it, and what folly is this toasting an independent press?

"We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes."

(Source: Labor's Untold Story, by Richard O. Boyer and Herbert M. Morais, published by United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, NY, 1955/1979.)

If the shoe fits, Swampland, wear it.

Thank God for the Internet, which has broken the bottleneck on public discourse created by the corporate media and the American public's exclusive reliance upon it.

Thank God "rich men behind the scenes" no longer are the only ones pulling the strings.

Oh, it's just "political hackery" and nothing "sinister".

That makes it much easier to accept, unless you find political hackery at this level of government to be sinister, of course.

Dope.

Chester Alan Arthur is a'rollin' im his grave. This is truly a 19th century gummint.

BTW, nice speech quote, SD.

The funny thing, Jay, is that by writing whimsical flummery like this, you're speeding up the process by which readers hasten their retreat. And then will follow the advertisers, and then the familiar newsroom purge.

And then there goes your job.

Good god, Carney, just how much of a gullible idiot are you? I mean, to take the word of what the Bush Justice Department is saying at this point in time doesn't say much for your mental acuity, does it? Aren't these the same people who have lied and broken promise after promise for six straight years? You may as well have written "The Ministry of Propanda assures us all is well!"

Oh, and when you write "But it's far more likely that Griffin's appointment was an act of patronage -- a reward for meritorious service in the political trenches on the president's behalf -- than it was a sinister effort to undermine Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign" what evidence do you have that this is actually the "far more likely" reason? Is it really far more likely or far less likely? How do you know? Who says? Based on what source?

As I recall, Bill Clinton's decision to replace the damn travel agents in the White House with his own people was a Serious Threat to the Survival of the Republic. But for Bush to do the same with the U.S. Attorneys? Nothing to see here, folks, move along.

To think I used to subscribe to this magazine...!!!!

"Secondly, the Justice Department is saying, both to the media and directly to Democratic Senators, that the administration will follow the standard practice of submitting nominees for confirmation to fill the vacant posts, and that the nominees will be approved by home-state senators."

Surely no one in this administration would just make up stories to keep the press happy just to stall for time until the president's term is over. No, they wouldn't do that.

You know, I am a firm believer that the presence of smoke does not necessarily mean there is fire, but Jay, you seem to be of the opinion that smoke is an absolute guarantee that there is no fire. In what lottery did you win your journalism credentials?

Is this some kind of a joke? This article/blog post is literally incoherent. The evidence adduced that this is business as usual is directly contradicted by the facts as presented by Jay. Calling something as obvious as political wheeling and dealing "conspiracy theory" is absurd. The connections between a political party in power, the independent investigative function of the US attorney's office, particular well known US attorneys and the forced resignation of 11 people isn't a coincidence, it isn't an accident, its actually the very nature of politics. No one who has watched this president and his administration run roughshod over civil liberties, over the judicial branch, and over congress can think for even one moment that anything happens by accident in the upper levels of the political patronage system. Is the phrase "quid pro quo" and the related "cui bono" entirely foreign to you or would you accuse the romans of dabbling in conspiracy theories?

and hi njorl.

aimai

Wow, Jay, you're getting savaged here in the comments. Are all of the posts here in Swampland like this?

Seriously, try some journalism for a change.

What a silly article, silly in its assumption of stupidly in its readers and silly in its acceptance of the word of a proven bunch of administrative liars.
The author is clearly a ball-less MSM'er. The USA's are being axed ..or why the Spector provision in the first place? Duh!!!!

"The test will be whether or not the Justice Department holds to its promise."

Uh huh. And we can trust this Justice Department how much?

TPM.com's research is comprised of facts. Your column is comprised of snide, unsupported commentary. How much longer should I pay for my subscription to TIME when I get factual reporting from TPM.com for free?

At least one positive thing came from this hackery disguised as an article, other than further proof of the irrelevency of Time and its administration water carriers, the comments here are some of the finest I have ever read.

In fact, here is a conspiracy theory of my own: Time asked Jay Carney to write a Bush support piece disguised as journalism with such easily disproved assertions and lack of evidence, that people would have no choice but to participate on this site.

This string of comments is very enlightening.

The first two comments are short, poorly written, implicity pro-Carney statements to the effect of "The libs like to whine about Bush, but Clinton was much worse."

We then see literally dozens of anti-Carney comments, almost all of which make sense and make good points.

And we see that neither Jay Carney himself nor anyone else jumps in to defend Carney's post. Could it be that Carney and those who agree with his post have nothing good to say here in the face of the overwhelming, reality-based criticism of that post? By remaining silent, are they conceding defeat? I think they are.

It's stunning to me that so many journalists continue to give the Bush Administration the benefit of the doubt. How many times do you need to be lied to before you stop trusting the liars?

So, you take Alberto Goinzalez at his word? Why? This is the same guy who insisted, under one party rule, that the FISA court should have no role in warrantless wiretaps of American citizens. NOw, he flips and says they can have some role (though still not the role the law and Constitution would require) and the keepers of the conventional wisdom at time think that's ducky.

Mr. Carney, I have this land for you in southern Louisiana. A real deal but you need to act fast...

You decide to look into this story, and the question of what these US Attorneys might have been looking into never crosses your mind?

Seriously?

Not a word?

Jay, do EAT with that mouth? Do you talk to your MOTHER with that mouth?

Idiot

Jay, you're a f*****g moron.

I was saying "Booo-urns". . .

Democracy, much? Your Kool-aid is showing.

Although US attorneys are generally chosen by the president, as far as I know, they are not thereafter understood to serve "at the pleasure of the President", the way, say, an Undersecretary of State might.

If I were a US attorney and saw Carol Lam forced out, I think I'd draw the conclusion that my job depended on what prosecutions I carried out. I would draw that conclusion independent of what the DOJ or anyone else said about it.

Is that what we want our US Attorneys concluding?

If it's not, (and I don't think it is), all the discussion of "innocent patronage", even if it were true, is irrelevant.

Thanks for the patronizing article. Gee folks, it might look bad, but really, trust us, it's just a bit of innocent patronage. Nothing to see here, just go on back to your lives! Why don't you just run out and buy a new HD TV, you don't want the terrorists to win, do you?!

Time Magazine and Time.com have been officially pathetic for quite some time. What I don't get is how these reporters and other professionals in the news biz just allow themselves to be coerced or tricked or coddled into spoon feeding such crap to their readers. What happened to investigating and reporting truth as opposed to finding anonymous quotes to frame opinion as news?

Jay,
I must agree with much of the above commentary citing your naiveté. Normally I like your articles and, let's face it, your wife is super hot, but if you haven't learned to be more suspicious of this administration by now you may want to consider a career change.

I believe what liberals, and others, see here is a rather narrow and perfectly plausible conspiracy. You know, the kind that can actually exist in the real world.

Plausible conspiracies of narrow scope which involve criminal activities are actually against the law, I've been told.

Why is it hard to believe that the Bush administration could mount a vengeful purge of prosecutors who would dare to prosecute Republicans?

Additionally, just because you can find one or two examples of the US Attorneys that may have resigned or been pushed out for legitimate reasons does not mean that the rest were not part of a purge.

The Carol Lam case looks particularly suspicious.

Jay,

I looks like you and the other DC stenographers are in trouble, caught between, on the one hand your greedy publishers and the political powers they are the voices of, and on the other hand by readers who are demanding more rigorous and professional journalism. Your loyalties in this conflict are clear -- your with the corporatocracy all the way (of course, your position demands that it be so).

I'm grateful to the internet for providing the opportunity for readers to see some real investigative journalism. It's the glaring contrast between the thirst for the truth and for accountability that we see there and the thoughtless regurgitation of Republican talking points that we see in the corporate media that makes such drivel as yours so visible.

That's why people like you are so quick to disparage people like Josh Marshall, who at least checks further than the nearest government spokesperson for sources.

A perfect example of a time-honored Time Inc tradition: Get some polite yuppie Ivy grad to schmooze in print and attack the hippies, to simultaneously seem to care about issues and dismiss them when they're not well-bred... Don't worry your pretty little heads, everyone's a gentleman like I, and no one's going to screw you, so shut up and don't worry. That's classic Time Inc-Wizard of Oz stuff, invented by Luce and Hadden (Yale men) to make themselves rich. Defend the status quo, calm the waters! Never give a socialist an even break!

If there is nothing to see here, why was AG Gonzales so hesitant to talk about any of this stuff today?

What do you expect from the guy who calls Ann Coulter "erudite" and "persuasive".

Of course he's a tool.

The San Fran and San Diego do look very bad, with the Cunningham and Lewis spinoffs and with the FBI and others specifically saying the removals will make it hard for them to carry forward.

The problem is not removal per se, bc new administrations, esp. where there has been a change in Congressional party control, do change out USAttys. The problem is that the removals are being followed by - under the Patriot act provisions, replacements who are NOT going through advice and consent.

Although emergency appointments has always been available, no other adminsitration has ever received the ability to put someone into the empty slot without advice and consent and with no time limits on how long they can serve. Obviously, the incentive to push out uncooperative players is at its highest when you can do so and also insert a compliant partisan who does not have to meet qualifications and support requirements of Senate advice and Consent. That is a very different situation than anyone - Regan, HW, Carter, Nixon or Clinton - ever had.

The rhetoric that the admin will be working on replacements that do go through advice and consent is completely empty bc the full control of the process is now within the Admins hands - it can merely delay by proffering untenable candidates and then say that the State Sen. just aren't being very helfpul bc they won't go along with the admin pics - all the while the political appointees stay in office.

Congress needs to rethink several provisions of the Patriot Act and this is just one. If the hammer was out there - that the temporary appointment could be blocked or replaced by judges or Congress - then there would be far less incentive to force out and replace.

Jay,

We want the press to do the proper oversight on this. That means you. Gonzales' mendacious answers this morning mean that there is smoke here. Check for fire instead of taking denials on their face.

The press has dropped the ball on this Administration for years. Time to pick it up. The American people aren't going to be forgiving of you guys on all of this.

Hey, Jay. With this post you join the really big names in pseudojournalism: Friedman, Broder, Mallaby, et.al.

I bet you too are yearning for a return to moderation, bipartisanship, and the fundamental values of our republic. The kind of moderation that sees a clinton behind every boogeyman. The kind of bipartisanship that thinks a blowjob between consenting adults is worse than lying us into a war that has resulted in 30,000 American casualties, uncountable Iraqi dead, irreparable damage to our international influence, substantial weakening of our international position on the ground (Latin America is going Marxist again, for Chrissake, have you noticed? Dubya's gift to a dying Fidel.), the degradation of our intelligence community to a marketing department for whatever dingbat fiasco our imperial president feels in his gut, the grinding down of our military capacity, and a very substantial strengthening of the forces of terrorism.

Hope that next DC cocktail party, drinking the koolaid with the koolkids, is worth it. And don't forget to sent roses to Josh. You don't get this much attention very often.

Nice quote, SD. Makes what the rest of us write redundant, doesn't it. Plus ca change...

Numbskull Carney is just part of the continued verification of why any sane individual with a subscription to Time, Newsweak, or US snooze should drop it (them) ASAP. Things won't change until the wallets lighten.

Please speak up, Jay. Please tell me what kind of follow up reporting you are going to do on this. We hate what we don't understand, and your performance as a journalist has left me baffled. Are you just going to let your story stand as it is? Please tell me you plan to work on it.

Firing people for no reason is just good management,....what is so hard to understand about that?

Jay,
Your arguments are lame, they amount to looking the other way because you think the worst won't happen. Guess what? with these guys, what ends up happening is always WORSE than you think it could ever be. Hasn't their history of hackery and corruption registered with you?
Heckuva job, Carney.

I hate to add to Swampland--nice name, btw--traffic but I guess it's worth pointing out that TPM has done some real reporting on this topic. So, reset your Intertube to talkingpointsmemo.com and delete Swampland from your bookmarks.

"Except for one thing: in this case some liberals are seeing broad partisan conspiracies where none likely exist."
Care to defend that statement with some facts or is opining the only thing you do? Attorney General Gonzales "explained his expanded powers were necessary because federal judges -- who previously had appointed replacement U.S. attorneys -- were susceptible to cronyism and might appoint unqualified candidates." And, then he puts in Karl Roves buddy and other hand picked judges? No cronyism there huh? These appointments will be in place until Bush leaves office. Doesn't sound like a conspiracy theory to me, sounds like TPM has a fact based argument that Bushco is stacking the deck.

Thanks for the laugh, Jay. "Running Massacre," indeed.

Time for Time to go.

Jay Carney:

Are you reading these comments?

Do you have anything to say in your defense?

Your lack of a response is ingracious and suggests cowardice in the face of the citizenry.

Drop a line.

What do you get for "writting" this? Gannon's used WH knee pads?

Just curious.

Jay, you're a fool. A gullible fool.

Do you really do any investigations or just take every thing as facts based on nothing more that what you *feel*?

Did you look at Carl Lam's case at all? Does it not sound suspicious? My 6 year old will know that there is something fishy there.

In real media, people like yourself would be unemployed. The Pajama media feasts on people with your talents.

Jay,

Were you born yesterday, or do you believe acting like you were is good career move for a jounalist? Just asking.

I second Brendan's comments.
How about a response to this rather impressive display of civil participation? Jay?

Not a gullible fool, a useful idiot.

Bravo, Jay.

This is a great piece of journalism, however, I am disspointed that you didn't get the memo from 'Judge Gonzalez' that we shouldn't be discussing "personal issues" such as who got fired. I think a moral superior verbal bitch slap from you is required.

For your next assignment how about you take a clue from Steven Colbert and "Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. You know - fiction!"

THEY FORCED OUT THE USA WHO PROSECUTED DUKE CUNNINGHAM.

That is a scandal in itself.

Check out Gonzalez's testimony, and tell me he's on the level.

Good god, Carney, just how much of a gullible idiot are you? I mean, to take the word of what the Bush Justice Department is saying at this point in time doesn't say much for your mental acuity, does it? Aren't these the same people who have lied and broken promise after promise for six straight years? You may as well have written "The Ministry of Propanda assures us all is well!"...

Posted by: Stefan | January 18, 2007

Tis funny, Carney's experience in Moscow should have taught him how to differentiate fact from propaganda, and to not be so gullible.

Alas, if he learned such lessons, he has totally forgotten them.

Does he feel his job is inform readers, or to suck up to the entrenched politicos of DC? You can't do both, Mr. Carney.

I don't want to get into ad hominems, but I would like to second the previous poster who wrote:

Report on it. If Josh Marshall is wrong, document it. You saying that Rove is putting him there because Rove is a nice guy isn't exactly a convincing argument.

Listen, Marshall's got his facts lined up, and he's not a member of the "looney left". Trying to dismiss the very real questions raised by TPM's reporting as "conspiracy theories" makes you sound like you've been asleep lo these past 5 years.

Again, I hope you won't get defensive, but your post says a lot more about yourself and Time than it does about Marshall and TPM.

Jay - you're a hack. You should probably think about your friends and family who read this stuff. People who you think respect you or look up to you. They're reading this and I guarantee some of them are thinking you're kind of a schlub for writing it. Your argument doesn't even stand up enough to fall on its face. You'd have trouble debating a mildly-informed middle schooler on this one.

There are only two options, Jay.
1) You are hopelessly incompetent.
2) You are a liar.

I'm leaning towards 2. You should know full well that the Patriot Act provision slipped in quietly by Specter ensures that Congress will NOT be able to vet these replacements.

How the f$#@ do people like you get jobs?

oh, i have to come back here soon, that's for sure.

thanks for all the laughs, jay. i'm sure they're worth as much to me as your check from rove is to you.

You have to be kidding. This article is satire, has to be, no one is that blind.

I am guessing you also believed Bush when he told 60 minutes last Sunday that he was not a revengeful perosn also.

you can find this in lots of places but here is one...

quoting:

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/082606.html

In 1986, for instance, Bush spotted Wall Street Journal political writer Al Hunt and his wife Judy Woodruff having dinner at a Dallas restaurant with their four-year-old son. Bush was steaming over Hunt's prediction that Jack Kemp – not then-Vice President George H.W. Bush – would win the Republican presidential nomination in 1988.

Bush stormed up to the table and cursed Hunt out. "You f-cking son of a bitch," Bush yelled. "I saw what you wrote. We're not going to forget this."

Later in the campaign, when Newsweek ran a cover story with the image of George H.W. Bush on a boat with the headline, "Fighting the Wimp Factor," a furious George W. Bush enforced a year-long punishment of Newsweek by barring the magazine's reporters from access to key campaign insiders.

So what exactly is the standard of gullibility one needs to meet or exceed in order to write for Time? I'd like to know for future reference.

I mean, are you serious? You really are this easily fooled?

Jay Carney: You can't be stupid or gullible enough not to see that this whole thing is a bald-faced scam, from Specter's secret, 1ast minute Patriot Act insertion to the specific firing of the woman who is investigating illegal and unethical links between Republicans and the Defense industry.

You can't be that stupid - so now that you've been exposed and become today's most ridiculed writer across the entire internet, would you please issue your mea culpa and tell us why you wrote this ridiculous piece of propaganda?

As for the first handful of posters - when you play the "Clinton" card, it's a dead giveaway that you know you're wrong. Like a 4-year whining that his older brother did it too. Truly pathetic.

You unhinged liberals better stop calling Jay all those mean names.

He's crying already and you don't want to see him have to go for the smelling salts.

Meanies!

You're gonna get Joe Klein all exercised too, so watch out.

Someone asked;

Where has Jay been for the last six years?

Ooooo....I don't know, probably rehearsing for his Sunday morning appearances on "This Week".

Stand up to Donna Brazile I guess. Practice those penetrating observations.

" Well I think".."It looks like"..."The Democrats will have to"...

Blah,Blah,Blah.

Very demanding that!

"Leftist loon crapola.

Posted by: Alexi Ballsless | January 17, 2007"

Look what's talking.

More Time Magazine BS. These people do anything they can to cover bush's ass. They are nothing but a bunch of hacks, bought and paid for. They can't be trusted. They aren't real Americans, and they aren't real Reporters. They never will be. Their only purpose in this world is to exploit their positions for any profit they can manage.

They need to stop sleeping and partying with the people they are supposed to be covering. They aren't meant to have a glamorous job. There are real reporters going through all manner of things, getting tortured, killed, suffering unbearable personal indignities. And these people aren't willing to brave a slower career route or a chilly reception at Sally Quinn's (no person is more reponsible for America's problems than her) coktail parties.

Just to add to the pile-on, when you write "It is also true that all of the USA's who have resigned, whether forced out or not, were appointed by Bush. In other words, if this is a massacre, it's auto-genocide" you are actually incorrect, because those forced out, while appointed by Bush, were also subject to Congressional approval, which the hack replacements will not be. It enables him to get rid of qualified professionals who had to pass a (relatively) non-ideological review process with partisan political cronies who do not.

So are not only are you in the tank for the Bush regime, you're also peddling factually misleading information to your readers to do it. Well done, sir.

A "running masacre" is what's happening at Time Inc's print magazines right now...

Ah, the good old days when it took nine people in three cities to write one 600 word article...

Can I be on the cover again?

I'll shave my legs and armpits.

Wow, some of you conservative partisans are a hateful bunch.

Patronage appointments are not okay, and for good reason. Consider "Brownie" for example. Now sure you must agree that this administration has had a lack of oversite from congress in the 109th for sure, and look at all the malfeasance. The no bid contracts, patronage appointments, rolling back constitutional rights, and, some would say, abrogating their pledge to uphold the constitution. The prosecutor who slam dunked that slime Cunningham was pushed out, she should be nominated for a Supreme Court position. Now one of Rove's hand picked mudslingers is appointed to a US Atty. post. This is not innocent. These are not innocent actors. They are traitors in my book. Sheesh, wake up.

Gonzales should do to these attorneys what Hillary did to Vincent Foster: invite them into his office and strangle them with his bare hands then chop them up and bury them in an unmarked grave. That would show everybody.

Bush removal ended Guam investigation
US attorney's demotion halted probe of lobbyist
Boston Globe- August 8, 2005
WASHINGTON -- A US grand jury in Guam opened an investigation of controversial lobbyist Jack Abramoff more than two years ago, but President Bush removed the supervising federal prosecutor, and the probe ended soon after. ...

http://tinyurl.com/b76k6

Birdcage rag Time wanted to make supreme war criminal Rumsfeld "Man of the Year", but Rummy declined.

Nuff said about the dying rag Time "magazine".

The stupidest thing of all is to allow intelligent people refute in real time your craptastic, ass kissing bullshit 'blog' article.

A rich stenographer at a computer a blogger does not make....

Did anyone point out, in answer to the *Clinton did it, too* nonsense, that Clinton's appointees had to be confirmed by the Senate?

The defense of this latest Bush stunt in pathetically unbelievable and.

Shame on you.

It's obvious that the MSM has no clue about what the internet represents...

Why else would a propaganda organ for Bush allow realtime comments to their propaganda? It only works if there is no dissent allowed.

You're not even competent fascists....sheesh.

So let me get this straight. Abu Gonzalez asked for and received secret legislation from Arlen Specter allowing the President to replace pushed out USA's without advise and consent from the Senate....

Specter has yet to provide a reasonable explanation for why he did it.

And you don't see anything wrong with that.

Maybe, you theorize, the administration just needed to create some openinings to distribute more Patronage.

Damn you're stupid.

So far over 135 people have taken the time to comment on this piece, and most of those comments are far more thoughtful, nuanced and serious than Carney's piece. They raise real questions about the honesty and accuracy of his stenog...sorry, reporting. Any chance of a follow-up post to address readers' concerns, or is the best we can expect from TIME a shamefaced sweep under the rug?

Jay, the "internets" are exposing what a bunch of sycophants you and ilk in washington have become. It is all about who grease your pockets. Shameful

Now now... Jay knows this is nothing to be concerned about, David Broder told him so, and Joe Klein and Cokie Roberts agreed.

I note that in Carney's bio on this site it says "In his next life, he would like to write for Sports Illustrated."

Really, why wait? Why not apply that hard-nosed skepticism to the world of sports, which is simply crying out for your talents? I look forward to many penetrating articles with titles such as "Team Going to Have Great Season, According to Coach, Owners."

I haven't enjoyed a string of blog comments this much since December 10, 2006, which was the date on which Tom DeLay accepted comments on his then-brand-new blog (for only about 75 minutes.) (You can see those hilarious comments at http://tomdelaydotcom.blogspot.com/.)

Shorter Jay: the dreaded and juvenile "on-line" media, like the proverbial blind squirrel, scooped the bunting-covered, uber-hardworking print media so therefore I will change the subject to an unsubstantiated character assassination of a vague group of people and go home early.

A propos of today's sterling collection of Swamp posts, I note without surprise that the NY Times is reporting that Time Inc. is laying off 300 people.

Entertainingly, the Times reports that "the retrenchment comes as Time Inc. . . seeks to expand its branded properties on the Web, where the company sees its future."

Good luck with that.

Wow, so instead of blogging about DC-life, this really is a blog about seeing if in every story the Clintons can be brought up somehow?

When does Ken Starr join your ranks?

just another disingenuous msm piece defending the murderers and liars and those who use the US Constitution to wipe their arses with. Don't you guys ever get tired of being wrong?

It is the Saturday night massacre all over again but without a press corps to report it. enjoy the cocktail weenies and shrimp - you earned them!

Link correction:

http://tomdelaydotcom.blogspot.com/

Sorry.

It seems to me that you have gone overboard the other way. You assume that nothing has changed as well as highlighting that many of those removed were appointed by Bush.

Speculate away, but time will tell whether your speculation is any better than the speculation of those you criticize.

You probably jumped all over the news yesterday that AG Gonzales had capitulated and agreed to abide by the FISA law. Now we learn that no such thing happened. Instead, Gonzales cherry picked one FISA Court Judge to grant a blanket approval of all wiretaps on American citizens. This, of course, stands the 1978 FISA law, as amended, on its head.

If this transparently cocksure, dimwitted attempt at catapolting the propaganda and dismissing the obvious truth coming from the reality based community as so much nonsensical worry-wartness wasn't so pathetically stupid...it would have been funny. But, alas, it's just pathetically stupid. Get a real bleeping job, Carney, you suck at the one you are currently welfare wingnutted into.

Yum, yum. Conventional wisdom. Goes down smooth, no nasty wasted brain cells. How about rewriting the piece, replacing your speculation with facts of one sort or another, it'd be a big help. Thanks. I think it's called reporting.

I look forward to Mr. Carney's response(s) to several of the substantive comments here, or, in the alternative, a retraction of this "story" and a heartfelt apology to America for the role he has played in lowering the quality of discourse and reporting.

We are legion, for we are many, and we are watching.

"the Justice Department is saying, both to the media and directly to Democratic Senators, that the administration will follow the standard practice of submitting nominees for confirmation to fill the vacant posts,"

Oh Really? Griffin has been serving since December. If you look at the official list of nominations you can't find his name there.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/nominations/indexF-I.html

So if they sneak a person into a position, is that position vacant?

If the position is "vacant" does that mean that the person subbing will be there until there is agreement between one or two demos and k. rove on a replacement

A real feather in your cap, Jay! This is my favorite part:

"The test will be whether or not the Justice Department holds to its promise." LOL, as the kids say. And then: "With Democrats in control of Congress, it would seem to have little choice. Otherwise, Pat Leahy and John Conyers will have ample cause to block anything Gonzales or the White House wants from them."

Do you really suppose that Rove has no other cards up his sleeve? Did anyone see this one coming? As if Karl, Dick and the sock puppets around them won't sink to lower and lower depths to degrade this government, it's laws and common decency.

in fact there have been no nominations since Dec 6. So where are the nominations for the new USAs?

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/nominations/index-date.html

Go back to bed, America. Your government has figured out how it all transpired. Go back to bed, America. Your government is in control again.