Ken Starr. I bet just the mention of the name causes a lot of people to shudder, right? You think he's an example of how easy it is for a special prosecutor to go rogue, to blindly pursue a partisan agenda. I bet when he was done with Clinton you never wanted to see another special prosecutor like that again. Am I right? I know that's how I felt.
We were fooled.
You see, the office of the independent counsel doesn't exist anymore. I bet you're wondering when that happened and why you haven't heard about it before. I know I was surprised to learn that earlier tonight. You'd think news like that would be a big deal. But really, after the Ken Starr thing, can you blame Democrats in congress for reluctance to renew the law that empowered him? And does it really surprise you that it quietly expired without opposition or much public notice under those circumstances?
That's why at midnight on June 30, 1999, the office of the independent counsel was dissolved. Returning the sole power to appoint outside prosecutors to the Attorney General, and doing away with the major safeguard against the conflict of interest created by allowing the executive branch to investigate itself for criminal actions. With the exception of a brief two-year period between 1992 and 1994 when the original law expired and a new one was drafted to take its place, this is the first time since 1978 (shortly after Watergate) when we have been without such protections. Certainly the longest amount of time since then. And, hardly coincidentally, during the Administration with the most scandalous and potentially illegal behavior.
And I bet most of us didn't even know this protection was gone. Did you?
Spread the word.