RENO

May 21, 2003

Comments

PoliBlogger asks the rhetorical question, “Was Janet Reno the worst AG we have ever had, or what?” and notes

a key difference between the Clinton and Bush approaches to terrorism: sending in the FBI to arrest bin Laden is treating the situation from a law enforcement perspective. The Bush “War on Terror” is the more appropriate approach, I would argue.

Especially ironic since Reno treated law enforcement problems like military ones, as in Waco, ~~Ruby Ridge,~~ and Elian Gonzalez.

3 responses to “RENO”

craig henry

May 21, 2003 at 12:12 pm

I agree with your point 100%, but fairness compels me to note that Ruby Ridge was a pre-Reno operation.
James Joyner

May 21, 2003 at 12:15 pm

D’oh. I just so seems like a Reno Operation. But, yes, it happened months before she took office.
Don

May 25, 2003 at 7:04 am

I’d disagree; John Mitchell, Nixon’s AG and Chairman of that legendary Committee to Re-Elect the President, was the worst in our history, IMHO. I think Reno had her flaws to be sure, but I never saw reason to doubt her motivations.

As for the Bush/Clinton dichotomy with regard to terrorism, I think the Bush approach is the more appropriate one only in the aftermath of 9/11. Besides, Clinton would have been accused of starting a war to draw attention away from the sex scandal had he taken the Bush approach.

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