One of the benefits of Bush 43's political family is that he knew how to create a team that were loyal and not just a group of payback appointments. By 2004 most of the house-cleaning had already been accomplished, but a process of reviewing potential partisan threats was likely undertaken to weed out anyone still on the payroll.

The US Attorney firings were obviously part of this political targeting.

Great.

Were they unethical?

Perhaps. It depends upon your point of view. Hillary fired all the White House travel folks simply because they has served under Bush.

Politicians, don't trust people because they know how untrustworthy people in politics are.

I'd sooner trust my local sanitation worker to tell me the truth than any politician - left or right.