1 Boring Old Man

A month ago, I mentioned a local project about some unusual trees in the Georgia woods around here – thought to be Indian Trail markers. Well, I spent the weekend in a University Dendrochronology lab where they date trees by studying "cores." The objection to the notion that these are, indeed, remants of our Native American past is that the trees aren’t that big. How could the be that old? The Cherokee were removed from North Georgia in 1838 and marched on the "Trail of Tears" to an Oklahoma Reservation by Andrew Jackson’s Army.

These are the preliminary result from duplicate cores from two of the trees. You don’t have to understand the graph to see the timeline along the bottom. These two trees date from 1771 and 1782 respectively! Very exciting. What does it mean? Keep digging and core a lot more trees. I guess it’s a scientific rule of sorts. Do a preliminary "look see." If you find something, keep looking. It takes a lot of evidence to prove a hunch.

When I got back last night and looked over the news and the blogs, I thought that we’re further down the road with the U.S. Attorney Firing Scandal than our group is with the trees. TPM got to looking in January at the firing of Carol Lam, and things have mushroomed since then. It looks like that "hunch" is rapidly becoming a huge truth. There was a concerted effort by the Republican Party to essentially make the Department of Justice into its political arm. Last week, we heard Comey’s damning testimony. On Wednesday, we get to hear Monica Goodling’s version of the story. Take a look at emptywheel‘s posts on The Next Hurrah and Joshua Marshall‘s posts on TPM for the latest developments. The mainstream media has joined in [Washington Post and McClatchy].

This is a hunch that turned into a scandal on steroids! For several years, there’s been an escalating roar that this Administration is internally corrupt at a level beyond anything previously experienced, but that contention has been discounted as "partisan," or "democrats," or "liberals" trying to undermine the President. I’ll admit to being a liberal sort, but certainly not what they would define as Liberal. And I’ve never been so politically vocal. I think of myself as one of a growing throng of people who have had a hunch that this Administration is not "conservative," not "republican," not even just "partisan." This Administration is two other things: unscrupulous and inept – one dangerous combination. And this U.S. Attorney firing affair highlights both characteristics.