Media Bias and the Firing of U.S. Attorneys

The current hype by Democrats and the news media about the firing of eight U.S. attorneys provides an excellent example of media bias.

When President Clinton fired every U.S. attorney but one, ABC never mentioned the story.

When President Bush fires eight, the Democrats go nuts and the media blows it into a potential scandal -- commented on at ABC by none other than former Clinton advisor George Stephanopoulos. Very cozy.

More at Power Line and Captain's Quarters.

Update: It's beyond funny that Hillary Clinton would call for the resignation of Alberto Gonzales.

When asked how the firings of eight attorneys differ from her husband firing all but one U.S. attorney, she attempted to justify the difference by saying "When a new president comes in, a new president gets to clean house... It is 'Let's start afresh' and every president has done that."

No, every President has not done that, not when it comes to U.S. attorneys. President Clinton was the first President in history to engage in such a mass firing.

I'm guessing Mrs. Clinton is trying to obfuscate what "is is" and if pressed would claim that she is referring to the general principle that presidents can start over, rather than specifically referring to clearing out U.S. attorneys...because if she's referring to U.S. attorneys, she's lying.

As Robert Bork wrote several years ago, President Clinton followed the firing of the U.S. attorneys by appointing a protege -- a former student -- as the U.S. attorney in Little Rock, where the Clintons had been entangled in Whitewater. "Just as the best place to hide a body is on a battlefield, the best way to be rid of one potentially troublesome attorney is to fire all of them."

Update: Opinion Journal: "Hillary Clinton Knows All About Sacking U.S. Attorneys."