The Agnew Rule

For John, BLUF:  Sign that A/G Eric Holder is in trouble—Lt Gov Tim Murray is stepping down.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

Per Hot Air there is growing discontent with the Federal Attorney General, Eric Holder.  Even The Huffington Post is down on the Attorney General.  Is it possible he will have to go?  If he goes, who replaces him?  Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick (Harvard Law), of course.  But first there is what I call the "Agnew Rule".  When the number two, and constitutionally designated successor, is deemed unacceptable by the political powers that be, he or she goes, so that the principal can be thrown over the side without endangering the institution.  For example, Vice President Spiro T Agnew.

Let us remember how the Watergate incident and the eventual resignation of President Nixon went down.  As this abbreviated timeline (see here for a more complete version) shows, it took over two years from the Watergate break in until the resignation.  I would assert that a key function in allowing the US Congress to go forward was the forced resignation of Vice President Agnew.

September 9, 1971	The White House “plumbers” unit burglarizes a psychiatrist’s office to find files on Daniel Ellsberg
June 17, 1972	Five men, one of whom says he used to work for the CIA, are arrested at 2:30 a.m. trying to bug the offices of the DNC at the Watergate hotel.
January 30, 1973	Former Nixon aides G. Gordon Liddy and James W. McCord Jr. are convicted.
April 30, 1973	Nixon’s top White House staffers, H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, and Attorney General Richard Kleindienst resign.
May 18, 1973	The Senate Watergate committee begins its nationally televised hearings.
July 13, 1973	Alexander Butterfield reveals taping system.
October 10, 1973	Spiro Agnew resigns for tax evasion, over $100,000 in bribes while Gov of Maryland.
October 20, 1973	Saturday Night Massacre.
July 27, 1974	House Judiciary Committee Passes First Article of Impeachment.
August 8, 1974	President Nixon Resigns

What is the point of all this?

The point is that the sign that Attorney General Eric Holder's grip on office is slipping is that Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray is leaving office early to become head of the Worcester Chamber of Commerce.  Worcester is Mr Murray's home town.  The date is 2 June.

But, the fact is, Lieutenant Governor Murray has become a political liability, after (1) his close associate Chelsea Housing Authority director Michael McLaughlin crashed and burned and (2) he crash his government furnished automobile at 108 mph (and he wasn't wearing his seatbelt).  Not that it proves anything, but Lieutenant Governor Murray was unhurt.

Now the safe and reliable Secretary of State, William Galvin, is in line for the Governorship,♠ when the current Governor, Deval Patrick, is summoned to Washington, to replace current Attorney General Eric Holder.

UPDATE:  Thanks to The InstaPundit for 5000+ page views.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  It is to be noted that even when giving birth to twins, Governor Jane Swift did not turn the reigns over to Mr Galvin to act in a temporary capacity as Governor.  I wonder why that was?