Isn’t it ironic that Democrats are calling for resignations and heads to roll because 8 federal prosecutors were fired…

…yet they never uttered a peep about “political motivations” or White House conspiracies when one of their own, then-Attorney General Janet Reno, fired all 93 federal prosecutors, some of whom were actively involved in investigations that would later lead to convictions of several Clinton close friends and business partners.

On Aug. 16, 1993, Paula Casey, an active Democrat and a law student of Bill Clinton’s, took over from her Republican predecessor. Her job was to run interference and thwart any criminal referrals related to Whitewater and the Rose Law Firm.

In addition to quashing a criminal referral of Madison from the Resolution Trust Corp., she also was tasked to prevent Judge David Hale, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy and mail fraud, from testifying against the Clintons. She rejected Hale’s effort at a plea bargain. He had offered to share information on the “banking and borrowing practices of some individuals in the elite political circles of the state of Arkansas.” Guess who?

But no, nothing political there.

UPDATE:
Here’s what Democrat Chuck Schumer had to say when calling for the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales:

The Senate’s No. 3 Democrat said Sunday that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should resign because he is putting politics above the law. Sen. Charles Schumer cited the FBI’s illegal snooping into people’s private lives and the Justice Department’s firing of federal prosecutors.

Schumer, D-N.Y., said Gonzales repeatedly has shown more allegiance to President Bush than to citizens’ legal rights since taking his job in early 2005.

But here’s a little twist sure to make Chuck Schumer wince.

The White House suggested to the Justice Department two years ago that all 93 U.S. attorneys be fired, according to e-mails and internal documents that the administration will provide to Congress today.

Eventually, eight U.S. attorneys were dismissed by last December.

The firings took place after President Bush told Attorney General Alberto Gonzales that he had received complaints that some prosecutors had not energetically pursued voter-fraud investigations, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. One of the U.S. attorneys dismissed was John McKay of Seattle.

Documents and interviews indicate that Harriet Miers, who was then the White House counsel, suggested in February 2005 that all the prosecutors be dismissed and replaced with new Republican appointees for Bush’s second term.

That proposal was rejected by Gonzales as impractical and disruptive, Justice officials said.

Now who’s playing politics, Chucky?

UPDATE 2:
While his wife is calling for the AG’s resignation also, here’s what then-President Bill Clinton had to say about cleaning house with the federal prosecutors:

“All those people are routinely replaced,” he told reporters, “and I have not done anything differently.”

But it was anything but routine. Presidents Reagan and Carter didn’t fire all of the prosecutors, they held them over and waited until their tenures expired before replacing them.

In addition to Clinton-croney Paula Casey (mentioned in the first Update above), there’s this:

At the time, Jay Stephens, then U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia, was investigating then Ways and Means Chairman Dan Rostenkowski, and was “within 30 days” of making a decision on an indictment. Mr. Rostenkowski, who was shepherding the Clinton’s economic program through Congress, eventually went to jail on mail fraud charges and was later pardoned by Mr. Clinton.

As the article rightly points out:

But what we don’t have here is any serious evidence that the Administration has acted improperly or to protect some of its friends. If Democrats want to understand what a real abuse of power looks like, they can always ask the junior Senator from New York.