I must confess that I don't know exactly what to think about the reports that the White House has asked several U.S. attorneys to step down in the coming weeks, including the San Diego District's Carol Lam.

Some conspiracy theorists have suggested that it's payback by the Bush administration for Lam's prosecution of Randy "Duke" Cunningham -- an action for which she rightly deserves praise. That claim just doesn't pass the smell test. After all, it's Democrats who have a tendency to protect their wrongdoers (see: Jefferson, Mollohan, et. al.), not Republicans. And it's not as though Lam went out on a limb when she went after Cunningham. My employer, the San Diego Union-Tribune, in reporting that won the paper the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting practically wrapped Cunningham up in a bow and presented him to Lam.

What's struck me as a little odd about all of these conspiratorial musings is they ignore the simple fact that U.S. Attorneys are part of the executive branch of government and serve at the pleasure of the president. He doesn't need a reason to sack some of them.

I'm also mildly amused by the New York Times editorial page's concern with "Political Meddling With Justice." I didn't hear Democrats screaming about this sort of thing when Clinton sacked every U.S. Attorney (save Michael Chertoff) immediately upon taking office back in 1993.

This is little more than a media-generated kerfuffle.