The truth is non-partisan

Republican support for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales appears to be eroding over what the press and Democrats are claiming is the politically motivated firing of eight U.S. attorneys.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Congress-Prosecutors.html

It looks like Attorney General Alberto Gonzales may be the next victim in a situation that has already brought the resignation of his chief of staff Kyle Sampson.   The worst that can be said of their actions is that they have shown incompetence and political naivity.

Sampson's email shows no evidence that the firings were politically motivated.  Instead, the prosecutors were fired because they were not following Justice Department direction.   One prosecutor Carol Lam was let go because "she made a conscious decision to de-prioritize immigration cases" in San Diego. Another fired U.S. attorney took action only after illegal immigrants were arrested 13 times. (Details of the case are available at patterico.com.)

Yet, the press and the Democrats are convincing the public that the attorneys were let go because they wouldn't prosecute politically motivated investigations. This is another example of pack journalism.

Pack journalism occurs because news organizations follow each other in leading with the same story.   Stories fuel each other, often covering the same points again and again.  Journalists become the focus and sources of stories, rather than being the simple reporter.   Thus, in 2005 for example, we had months of coverage of stories like the Terri Schiavo case and Mark Peterson trial. To get new angles on these stories the press ended up reporting what each other was doing.

Individual journalists spend time with each other covering the same topic. They share information and rely on each other for news tips and follow similar angels in their coverage of stories.   They begin to think and act alike, becoming homogenous in their approach to news coverage.  Because they feed on each other, little new investigation is needed and little new information comes forward.  

This would not be such a problem except that journalists often set the agenda that both politicians and the public follow. Pack mentality of the press extends itself to politicians as well.   Once the pack starts howling, gnarling, and chewing on its prey, it is not likely to let go until the beast is downed and finished.  This is what we see happening in the story about the firing of U.S. attorneys.  The media are framing this story as being politically motivated and the Democrats are playing it to the hilt.   

// posted by John Fisher @ 9:34 PM