It was a major scandal when the Bush administration fired a number of at-will employees who apparently held inconvenient political views – despite the fact there was a well-established precedence for such things.
The abrupt firing of AmeriCorps IG Gerald Walpin drew less media scrutiny. Never mind that federal law requires 30 days notice to Congress before the executive can fire an inspector general.
Here’s the change we voted for:
Pressed for the reason Walpin was fired, Eisen told House and Senate aides that the White House conducted an “extensive review” of complaints about Walpin’s performance before deciding to dismiss him. According to the new report, Eisen told Congress that “his investigation into the merits of removing Gerald Walpin involved contacting members of the Corporation for National and Community Service [CNCS] board to confirm the existence of a ‘consensus’ in favor of removal.” But Republican investigators later discovered that during that “extensive review,” the White House did not even seek the views of the corporation’s board — the very people whose “consensus” purportedly led to Walpin’s firing…
Republican investigators concluded that the key motive behind the firing was unhappiness with Walpin’s aggressive investigation of misuse of AmeriCorps funds by Kevin Johnson, the mayor of Sacramento, California who is a prominent political ally of President Obama.
Politics is all about rewarding friends and punishing enemies, there’s nothing much new here.
What did O know and when did he know it.
It’s not the crime, it’s the cover up.
Impeachable offense in my opinion, but I doubt if there are sufficient number of even reasonably honest men and women in Congress to impeach and convict the guilty.
If he gets away with this outrageous abuse of power, we are doomed as nothing will be seen as sufficient to merit reproach, let along anything stronger.
And, the mainstream media is busy fact-checking Sarah Palin’s book, and the public is waiting to see who wins on Dancing with Bozos.
What a country!
“…all enemies, foreign and domestic.” I wonder what that really means anymore.
I have to object to your slur on Dances With The Stars. Not that I think it a program worth wasting my time upon, but the relatives really seem to enjoy it, which means I get to waste a couple hours of my life every Monday evening with them watching people I don’t care about do things I don’t care to do.
Donnie Osmond seems to be winning. He’s 52, and can still move like the younger dancers.
So I choose to look upon those hours as moments of inspiration. Or raw envy, take your pick.
– Max
Johnson must of been one hell of a ball player and outstanding political crony. Seems it’s not just some misused funds but a group of people working to cover up his sexual misconduct with students working in the program.
When Obama was running I wondered if the Chicago way could withstand the scrutiny of national politics. It is nice to see that at least some of the corruption is finding its way to the light. And without a substantial opposition party presence.
“without a substantial opposition party presence”
Might be on to something JKB.
Sunlight is the harshest disinfectant. We can only hope more sunlight finds its way to the Obama Administration.
If this was GWB? We’d never hear the end of it 24/7. But why bother–everyone here already knows that..
The Chicago Way would imply misdeeds under the cover of darkness so that little can be done once the outcome sees the light of day. Like bulldozing an airport (Meigs) in the middle of the night.
By that definition, our Illinois politicians in DC are consistent.