Maybe Trading Up Soon at Justice

[Vyan]

Source: U.S. News and World Report

The buzz among top Bushies is that beleaguered Attorney General Alberto Gonzales finally plans to depart and will be replaced by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. Why Chertoff? Officials say he's got fans on Capitol Hill, is untouched by the Justice prosecutor scandal, and has more experience than Gonzales did, having served as a federal judge and assistant attorney general.

Read more: http://www.usnews.com/blogs/washington-whispers/2007/8/24/maybe-trading-up-soon-at-justice.html?s_cid=rss:washington-whispers:maybe-trading-up-soon-at-justice

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FINALLY! But have we gone from the Nuclear Reaction Chamber into the FIREBALL?!?

[peacetalksforall]

1. Tell me one thing that I can admire about this guy as to his politics,

ridiculousness, traitorism, and his utterly uninventive and non-creative mind. I put him on the top of the heap of total jerks. Not one redeeming quality as a public servant. What he did in LA should send him to jail, not te mention the rest. Despicable.

[napi21]

2. I just read his bio on Wiki. If you don't have to look at him, his

background actually sounds GOOD! I was shocked the find out he's only 53! Most of the time he looks like the walking dead to me.

I don't know who we could possible hope for Shrub to nominate. I've only heard 2 names floated so far. One was Chertoff and the other was Oren Hatch!!! I personally would prefer Chertoff to Oren!

All I can say is, I WANT GONZO GONE!!!!!!

[ooglymoogly]

9. Need to dig a little deeper than Wiki.

Wiki is as good as the latest edit by the N$A or Faux.

[coalition_unwilling]

31. His background sounds good? Would that be pre-Katrina or

post-Katrina? (DHS had organizational responsibility for FEMA - Chertoff fiddled while New Orleans drowned.)

[everydayis911]

7. Yes

He has "Gut Feelings" Isn't that good enough for this assministration. Another "Good Job Brownie"

[barb162]

11. He'll probably be better at Justice than H.Security. At least he has a

law degree. He had nothing, absolutely nothing, going for him in Homeland Security. Maybe they'll put someone in HS who knows something about the subject.

[Fridays Child]

3. Chertoff is almost fully programmed and ready to move up...

[GeorgeGist]

4. The devil's moving on up.

Hecka of a job Mikey.

[woodsprite]

5. What are Billy and Mandy gonna do without Grim? n/t

[Roland99]

6. Out with the bad and .... in with the worse?!

[ooglymoogly]

8. Chertoff on full alert and up to speed on plans for the coming marshal law.

in the revolving cuckoo clock of the usual Nazi suspects.

[WCGreen]

10. I know this is petty, but when he talks it sounds as if he hasn't gone

through puberty yet...

[Kool Kitty]

12. Gonzo MUST go, but

Jesus H. Christ-is this the best they can come up with?

[tanyev]

13. Probably.

There was never much depth to start with on the loyal Bushie bench, and now it is nearly empty.

[MADem]

14. Ewwwwwww.......

Isn't that awful. Frying pan to fire, that.

[rodeodance]

15. Hillary Rodham Clinton, then a Senator from New York, cast the lone dissenting vote against Chertoff

Despite his friendly relationship with some Democrats, during the Whitewater scandal investigation of Bill and Hillary Clinton, Chertoff was special counsel for the Senate Whitewater Committee studying allegations against the Clintons. When Chertoff faced Senate confirmation in 2003 for a federal judgeship, Hillary Rodham Clinton, then a Senator from New York, cast the lone dissenting vote against Chertoff's confirmation. She explained that her vote was in protest of the way junior White House staffers were "very badly treated" by Chertoff's staff during the Whitewater investigation.

[spotbird]

26. If she leads the

filibuster to block his confirmation, she will gain a major about of respect from me. If she only votes against him with a minority in the senate as the majority confirms, she will once again show that she doesn't mean what she says.

[spotbird]

16. If Gonzales Resigns will Chertoff be the "replacement"?

Source: ePluribus Meda

With the revolving door at the Justice Department spinning so fast it is creating a breeze, I thought it might be fun to pull together a list of "All things Alberto ..." and just see what kind of coverage the Absentminded AG has received from ePluribus Media.


Whispers and rumors are running rampant that Gonzales will leave and be replaced by Michael Chertoff.


Read more: http://scoop.epluribusmedia.org/story/2007/8/25/221412/819

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Be careful what you wish for...

The only thing worse than Gonzo leaving is this.

[More Than A Feeling]

17. We've got to be ready to push the senate not to confirm Chertoff.

James Comey or Patrick Fitzgerald should be the AG.

[wordpix]

18. I second that. Jcherkoff is bad news; his Katrina performance & DHS are bad jokes

[More Than A Feeling]

19. For the nutjobs, he was also the administration point-man on immigration reform.

I think we can quash this.

[JerseygirlCT]

27. Ah H&E, that's dreaming

Bush would never put those names forward -- they're undoubtedly now on the "enemies list".

But I agree about Chertoff. I think we ought to hold this nomination hostage until Bush sends someone we can agree to. No more of the "it's his choice, after all" crap from our senators. We've seen where his choices lead us.

He's shown he's not capable of good choices. Time to force his weasly little hand.

If only I thought there were enough senators with a little backbone.

[havocmom]

20. Since he is in up to his neck, he would be the guy bushco would put in the hen house

They have got to be sweating bullets about now.

Congress needs to make sure the next AG actually believes in the rule of law and not the law of the jungle.

[More Than A Feeling]

21. Too bad our Dems have a bit of a habit of rolling over on nominations.

Maybe they've learned their lesson from Alito, but I doubt it. If we don't push them, they might just roll over again.

[Cha]

22. And then saying they're

"SOR-RRRRRRRRY." :shrug:

[JerseygirlCT]

28. They never learn their lesson it seems.

The heck with Alito; you'd have thought THOMAS would have been lesson enough. But no.

I have no hope that they'll hold strong. They'll cave, as they always do. Lots of big words; no action.

[rosesaylavee]

23. My gut feeling says no. n/t

[eleny]

24. Oy...

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

25. This Guy?

http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1099

Right Web | Profile | Michael Chertoff

In late 2006, Chertoff defended the Bush administration's domestic anti-terror tactics, such as wire-tapping, while speaking at his alma mater, Harvard. Arguing that fighting terror required tools that went beyond mere law enforcement, Chertoff asserted that, "Before 9/11, the tools that existed had not been fashioned for a war on terror, but on criminal prosecution." Al-Qaida's activities, he said, "revealed three fundamental elements" that placed the anti-terror struggle in the category of a war: they have well-defined political aims, attempt to acquire territory, and can cause wide-scale damage. He also argued that critics of the "war" fail to come up with reasonable alternatives. "The consequences have to be measured with real world decisions when deciding on matters that deal with life or death. Terrorism in real life doesn't wait until you are done reviewing the evidence" (Harvard Crimson, October 17, 2006).

A sign of Chertoff's political partisanship is his longtime association with the Federalist Society, a national organization of rightist lawyers and judicial reform activists dedicated to realigning the U.S. legal system to reflect a more conservative interpretation of the Constitution. One of Chertoff's earliest appointments in the George W. Bush administration was to work alongside Ashcroft, another Federalist Society associate, in investigating the 9/11 attacks. Chertoff also served as financial vice chair for Bush's 2000 campaign in New Jersey (LA Weekly, January 12, 2005).



http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/0...

Law, Loyalty, and Terror.
by Michael Chertoff

Second, although the Patriot Act enhanced intelligence-gathering capabilities, it did not do so outside or in violation of the framework of existing Fourth Amendment doctrines. To be sure, many of these provisions were aimed at streamlining the process of judicial review, or the exchange of lawfully obtained information. But nationwide search warrants or technological extensions of traditional pen register principles do not alter the actual scope of Fourth Amendment protections, or the standards for obtaining warrants. Even the so-called "sneak and peek" warrant--which allows agents to delay notification that they have searched premises under a judicial warrant--applies settled Fourth Amendment doctrines. Every warrant authorizing electronic surveillance, for example, allows delayed notification; otherwise, notice to a suspect that his house or office is bugged would defeat the very purpose of the surveillance.

Third, the president has established military commissions that parallel the commission established by FDR to try Nazi saboteurs caught in this country. But no one has yet been tried by a commission, and--unlike in World War II--no American citizen, by presidential order, will be subject to a commission. Most significant, the Bush administration made it clear in issuing the order that the administration anticipated courts would exercise habeas jurisdiction over commission defendants, although that jurisdiction may be limited as a matter of law. In this regard, the president rejected the view initially espoused by Roosevelt, that such commissions were wholly beyond the reach of the courts.

[Karmageddon]

29. I have a better suggestion as a replacement than Chertoff

Think Bush will go for this guy?

[MaineDem]

30. Good catch.

You were the first, it seems. And on Saturday!

Good work.