A Very Reassuring Choice
As I've counseled concerned liberals here repeatedly--particularly as concern over Obama's potential choice to head the CIA flared up--the person Obama selects to head up the Office of Legal Counsel will be much more important in steering the country away from the policies of the last eight years than whoever he chooses to head up the CIA. As I wrote a while back: "The intelligence agencies will always want to do as much as they are legally permitted to do. The key is having someone at the OLC who respects the law and the Constitution and is willing to draw the lines where they should be."
Today Obama announced his choice to head the OLC: Indiana University Professor Dawn Johnsen. Given their presence on Obama's transition team and prior experience at the OLC, I figured (and hoped) that Obama would ultimately choose either Johnsen or Georgetown Professor Marty Ledermen to head OLC. Either would have been an excellent choice.
As Glenn Greenwald documents, Johnsen has been an outspoken critic of the Bush administration's legal policies, particularly its illegal surveillance and torture policies, which were justified by odious and deeply-flawed legal opinions issued by Bush's OLC (courtesy of John Yoo). It's hard to overstate how reassuring I will find it to have someone like Johnsen at the helm at OLC. The difference between Johnsen and Yoo couldn't be more stark.
This is an excellent choice and it will go a long way toward alleviating the fears that many have that Obama will continue on the legal trajectory set by the Bush administration.
Today Obama announced his choice to head the OLC: Indiana University Professor Dawn Johnsen. Given their presence on Obama's transition team and prior experience at the OLC, I figured (and hoped) that Obama would ultimately choose either Johnsen or Georgetown Professor Marty Ledermen to head OLC. Either would have been an excellent choice.
As Glenn Greenwald documents, Johnsen has been an outspoken critic of the Bush administration's legal policies, particularly its illegal surveillance and torture policies, which were justified by odious and deeply-flawed legal opinions issued by Bush's OLC (courtesy of John Yoo). It's hard to overstate how reassuring I will find it to have someone like Johnsen at the helm at OLC. The difference between Johnsen and Yoo couldn't be more stark.
This is an excellent choice and it will go a long way toward alleviating the fears that many have that Obama will continue on the legal trajectory set by the Bush administration.
posted by A.L. at 2:47 PM
7 Comments:
This is an excellent choice and it will go a long way toward alleviating the fears that many have that Obama will continue on the legal trajectory set by the Bush administration.
Yes, it is a good sign. However, unless the junta who operated outside the law for most of 8 years is actually prosecuted for something it doesn't amount to more than self restraint. Everything they did will be enshrined as precedent and become the starting point for the next Republican administration who will appoint the next Addington or Yoo to write even 'secreter' memos claiming even more power. I don't see much hope there. The cost of doing what needs to be done would be very high for Obama.
This may also be a sign that Obama realizes Republicans in congress have no intention of letting him get away with the things they aided and abetted during Bush's reign. Bush and Cheney did a lot of things any Democrat would be impeached for in a heartbeat regardless of who controls congress, and maybe Obama is at least smart enough to realize that despite all the post partisan hooey.
One of the main reasons why I always supported Obama was that he is an actual legal scholar, and not only understands and complies with the law, but knows the importance and potential of law at home and abroad. I have the utmost confidence in Obama in this department. More troubling, however, are his appointments in the economic field. On the subject of law, the economic scene has become a legal wasteland where the main job of all government economic institutions seems to have become to inflate values in the stock market. The fact that they have a screen with stock prices inside the House of Representatives says enough. "The market is tanking as we speak!", cried one lawmaker when the bailout was rejected, as if the benevolent spell was about to be broken.
The legal system must be restored from its present banana republic status, and the cleptocracy that is the economic regime must be ended.
This is a good sign, glad to hear this.
I look forward to seeing how often Johnsen says "no" to the President, which she described as the OLC's core function.
Meanwhile, what do you think of Obama's choice for CIA director? Didn't you think that intelligence experience was essential for that position?
The praise from Greenwald was almost glowing. I was pleasantly surprised.
Wow, one good thing for Obama. This erases all the horrible picks he's made.
off topic & perhaps a bit premature, but i'm hoping AL talks about Obama's recent interview on This Week.
I'm a liberal, voted for Obama (of course), and really and truly and *passionately* hope Bush & Co. face some sort of justice for the (what i believe to be) war crimes and other horrific injuries he has inflicted on us.
My dad feels the same about Bush.
But we both saw the interview (and other, recent articles) in a very different light.
my father, as anti-Bush & left-leaing as I am, suddenly sees Obama in a different light, perhaps owing to Kristol's latest column in NYT and Obama's recent comments on Gitmo, investigating Bush, etc. . "What are the black people gonna do", my progressive yet still a bit racist father said to me yesterday, "when they find out Obama is just like Bush?"
seriously. Obama hasn't even taken office yet but there are growing numbers of people saying Obama=Bush.
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