The death of Dawn Johnsen's nomination

[Jefferson23]

By Glenn Greenwald


(updated below - Update II)

After waiting 14 months for a confirmation vote that never came, Dawn Johnsen withdrew today as President Obama's nominee to head the Office of Legal Counsel. As I documented at length when the nomination was first announced in January, 2009, Johnsen was an absolutely superb pick to head an office that plays as vital a role as any in determining the President's record on civil liberties and adherence to the rule of law. With 59 and then 60 Democratic votes in the Senate all year long (which included the support of GOP Sen. Richard Lugar, though the opposition of Dem. Sen. Ben Nelson and shifting positions from Arlen Specter), it's difficult to understand why the White House -- if it really wanted to -- could not have had Johnsen confirmed (or why she at least wasn't included in the spate of recently announced recess appointments).

I don't know the real story behind what happened here -- I had an email exchange with Johnsen this afternoon but she was only willing to provide me her official, pro forma, wholly uninformative statement -- but here's what I do know: virtually everything that Dawn Johnsen said about executive power, secrecy, the rule of law and accountability for past crimes made her an excellent fit for what Candidate Obama said he would do, but an awful fit for what President Obama has done. To see how true that is, one can see the post I wrote last January detailing and praising her past writings, but all one really has to do is to read the last paragraph of her March, 2008 Slate article -- entitled "Restoring Our Nation's Honor" -- in which she outlines what the next President must do in the wake of Bush lawlessness:


The question how we restore our nation's honor takes on new urgency and promise as we approach the end of this administration. We must resist Bush administration efforts to hide evidence of its wrongdoing through demands for retroactive immunity, assertions of state privilege, and implausible claims that openness will empower terrorists. . . .

Here is a partial answer to my own question of how should we behave, directed especially to the next president and members of his or her administration but also to all of use who will be relieved by the change: We must avoid any temptation simply to move on. We must instead be honest with ourselves and the world as we condemn our nation's past transgressions and reject Bush's corruption of our American ideals. Our constitutional democracy cannot survive with a government shrouded in secrecy, nor can our nation's honor be restored without full disclosure.


remainder in full: http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/04/09/johnsen/index.html

[jgraz]

1. Off to the Greatest with ye

(At least until one of the Glee Club unrecs it)

[chill_wind]

2. The writing on the wall was fully evident last spring.

The Fall of Greg Craig

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1940537,00.html

A pretty depressing narrative..


She has it right:

The question how we restore our nation's honor takes on new urgency and promise as we approach the end of this administration. We must resist Bush administration efforts to hide evidence of its wrongdoing through demands for retroactive immunity, assertions of state privilege, and implausible claims that openness will empower terrorists. . . .

Here is a partial answer to my own question of how should we behave, directed especially to the next president and members of his or her administration but also to all of use who will be relieved by the change: We must avoid any temptation simply to move on. We must instead be honest with ourselves and the world as we condemn our nation's past transgressions and reject Bush's corruption of our American ideals. Our constitutional democracy cannot survive with a government shrouded in secrecy, nor can our nation's honor be restored without full disclosure.

There is no room at the present for someone of her convictions, when the calculus was complete and decision had already been made to move forward.

[Jefferson23]

4. Thank you for posting the link to the Craig OP, I am sad for the missed

opportunities. When I think how Obama is vilified as some kind of wacko radical by Republicans, I could scream.

[chill_wind]

6. Me, as well.

Sad for the same reasons, and dumbfounded by the latter. I would love to believe his initial pick of her reflected something of him, at least initially. She was on record-- an open book when he picked her. I think the Craig saga really does tell the story. But there was maybe a foreseeable or a foreshadowing hint way before all that, when we go back to his deliberations on the FISA-fix.

Yes, the Republicans have a very serious mental disorder.

[chill_wind]

13. It's a revealing narrative that explains a lot

about the real powers in charge in this realm of policy, I think. When he made the National Archives Speech last spring, I was still trying to read other things into it despite the passage below. The TIMES piece puts that in much better perspective for me and how that speech came about, now. I've stopped being surprised at anything in this area since.


One year ago:

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
____________________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 16, 2009

Statement of President Barack Obama on Release of OLC Memos

This is a time for reflection, not retribution. I respect the strong views and emotions that these issues evoke. We have been through a dark and painful chapter in our history. But at a time of great challenges and disturbing disunity, nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past. Our national greatness is embedded in America’s ability to right its course in concert with our core values, and to move forward with confidence. That is why we must resist the forces that divide us, and instead come together on behalf of our common future.


full text:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Statement-of-President-Barack-Obama-on-Release-of-OLC-Memos/

[BrklynLiberal]

10. I feel deceived and betrayed.....

being given a few crumbs here and there is no substitute for the loaf of bread that was promised..

[IndianaGreen]

3. Candidate Obama is not the same person as President Obama

That is the saddest revelation the past 14-months have made clear to all of us.

[depakid]

8. As many of us warned, the guy turned out to be a phony on many issues

All the more reprehensible in his situation, as he at one time was a constitutional law professor.

[pmorlan1]

5. Obama Cheerleaders Refuse to See

Sadly the Obama cheerleaders refuse to see what is in plain sight for all of us to see.

[sabrina 1]

7. "We must avoid any temptation simply to move on."

That probably is why she is gone. As Greenwald says, she is a perfect fit for what the country needs in order to repair the damage done by the Bush administration, but not a perfect fit for this administration.

As someone above said, when he nominated her, Obama must have known who she was and what she stood for. But like so much else, his thinking on many things seems to have, as he said about his change of mind on mandated insurance, 'evolved'. The question I would love to know the answer to is 'why'? How can someone change so much in such a short time? On so many important issues, he started out on the right side, like the FISA Bill, only to change his mind when it required him to act on his stated beliefs.

[BrklynLiberal]

11. Guess courage in actions is not the same as courage in words only.

[BrklynLiberal]

9. The disappointment really hurts......The President never even pretended to put up a fight for her

[sabrina 1]

12. He never does. That's what is becoming obviousH

When the rightwing snap their fingers, he pays attention. He didn't stand up for Van Jones or for ACORN either. Both targets of the rabid rightwing. He didn't stand up for Dennis Kucinich or Dorgan, or any of those who worked for what HE promised he would work for. He's beginning to look like someone who would not want to depend on for anything important. Is he weak? Or was he pretending to be something he never was? It's hard to tell at this point ...

[Dr.Phool]

14. Maybe Obama's going to appoint her to the Supreme Court!

Yeah, right.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[KoKo]

15. She was "hanging in the wind...left out to rot." It's just the way it works...K&R!