The U.S. attorney's critics know the real story

Columnist Ruth Ann Dailey, along with most other conservatives and Bush apologists, suffers from a type of willful ignorance ("U.S. Attorney's Critics Need History Lesson," July 20). Of course presidents appoint their own U.S. attorneys, but what they do not do is fire their own appointments at the beginning of their second term. This is exactly what the Bush administration did to create the scandal.

It is pretty clear to any critical thinker that these U.S. attorneys were fired for not cooperating with Karl Rove's quest for a "permanent Republican majority" by refusing to prosecute prominent Democrats. That is the part that is thought of as dirty pool and most likely illegal.

With that in mind, it is very clear to see why Mary Beth Buchanan unprofessionally and unsuccessfully prosecuted Cyril Wecht. Are there any more prominent Democrats in Allegheny County than Dr. Wecht?

Perhaps Ms. Dailey's skin would be as thin as Dr. Wecht's if she was twice forced to shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend herself against politically motivated prosecutions. So Dr. Wecht roams free today, but the citizens of Allegheny County can rest easy knowing that Tommy Chong won't be selling many bongs around here anymore.

NED TWYMAN
Carnegie