Here, from Stephens Media, is the straight news account of the Bush administration’s Friday evening recess appointment of political hatchet man Tim Griffin to be U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas. Get a load of Republican Rep. John Boozman:
Rep. John Boozman, R-Rogers, defended the appointment. He said Griffin might face unfair treatment from Senate Democrats because of his political ties.
“There might be a tendency because he did work for the president in that capacity politically to hold that against him and not look at the fact he’s very well-qualified,” said Boozman, the only Republican in the state’s congressional delegation.
“In going before the Senate, there are all kinds of politics,” Boozman said.
Sure. So why have a Senate confirmation process for anything, particularly now that there’s a Democratic majority? Heck, why have legislation at all? There would just be all kinds of politics. Just let the president issue decrees.
Simple reason why the Bush will not put Griffin before the Senate. He’d have to answer questions about Republican vote suppression tactics in Florida. Whether that was his work — or the work of others — it’s a subject the administration does not want aired under oath.
His background, inevitably, will color any election oversight he undertakes in 2008. (He could start by trying to figure out how Republican Benton County reported more votes than residents in several heavily Republican precincts this year before howls of outrage led to multiple recounts, except that’s in the Western District of Arkansas.)
UPDATE: One rumor circulating this morning among Democrats is that Griffin has been installed to build a profile to run for Second District Congress against Rep. Vic Snyder in two years.