Democracy Has Prevailed.

March 15, 2007

Where Does KDKA's Fred Honsberger Get His Information?

I only ask because I heard him use a new argument in defending dubya's decision to fire 8 US Attorneys for political reasons. Oddly enough he did not use argument that because President Clinton fired all 93 US Attorneys at the beginning of his first administration, CLINTON DID THE SAME THING.

Good for Fred for not going with that bogus argument.

The problem? Fred used an entirely NEW bogus argument. He said that Clinton did the same thing - he fired 23 US Attorneys all on the same day - midterm.

That was a new one. I did some research and what did I find?

It's so completely bogus it makes the first bogus argument look completely sane in comparison.

Take a look at this report from the Congressional Research Service. The CRS which describes itself as:
The Congressional Research Service is the public policy research arm of the United States Congress. As a legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress, CRS works exclusively and directly for Members of Congress, their Committees and staff on a confidential, nonpartisan basis.
The report itself is posted via OpenCRS.com.

Take a look at the data in the report:
This report provides data on U.S. attorneys who did not complete their full fouryear term after confirmation by the Senate and whose terms did not carry over a change in presidential administration.
Know what they found? Between 1981 and 2003, there were 54 US Attorneys who fit the above criteria.
Of those 54, 17 left to become Article III federal judges, one left to become a federal magistrate judge, six left to serve in other positions in the executive branch, four sought elective office, two left to serve in state government, one died, and 15 left to enter or return to private practice. Of the remaining eight U.S. attorneys who left before completing a four-year term without a change in presidential administration, two were apparently dismissed by the President, and three apparently resigned after news reports indicated they had engaged in questionable personal actions. No information was available on the three remaining U.S. attorneys who resigned.
So where are the 23 that Clinton fired "on the same day"?

At the end of the full report there's a detailed appendix with the data that supports the report's findings. During the Clinton years there were 8 USAttorneys who left their jobs.
  • Vicki Lynn Miles-LaGrange left to be a Federal Judge on 11/94.
  • Claude Harris Jr. died on 10/02/94.
  • Edmund A. Sargus, Jr. left to be a Federal Judge in 08/96.
  • Joseph Preston Strom, Jr. left for the private sector in 1996.
  • Kendall Brindley Coffey resigned on 05/17/96.
  • Larry Herbert Colleton resigned on 07/94.
  • James Lamar Wiggins left to seek elective office in 1996.
  • Kent Barron Alexander left for the private sector in 1997.
So where did Fred Honsberger get the data on the 23 US Attorneys that Clinton fired on the same day, midterm?

Or was he just making it up as he went along, hoping no one would check his "facts"?

4 comments:

PA progressive said...

Great job reporting this.

Grace said...

You know David, if you would just become a lying shill for the Corporations you too could have a cushy lucrative radio/Cable TV career.
But you have your morals, thank goodness for you.
I watched KKKhristian Fred eat at his church camp - before the gastric bypass surgery that cured him of his evil gluttonous ways. It was sickening to watch him shovel it in. Now I know that his morals on most all issues are just as anti-christian as his gluttony.
Fred, I know you lurk here....not everyone in Pittsburgh believes everything you save because of your so called 'faith'.
I'll take David, Maria, and the truth any day over 'Honz'.

Anonymous said...

About those two USDJ's Clinton fired: One was fired for choking a reporter on live television, the other bit a stripper (and no, I didn't make that up). Note that neither dismissal can be viewed as being for "political reasons" (unless the stripper was a Republican ;)

Maria said...

...Or the guy choking a reporter was a Republican. ;-)

Then again, if he/she choked a FAUX News reporter, perhaps they were performing a public service.