Obama WH Withdraws Dawn Johnsen’s Nomination For Office Of Legal Counsel Post

Johnsen was an outspoken critic of the Bush administration’s interrogation policies which made her a dream candidate to head up the office in Eric Holder’s Justice Department.  Now she must remain in the dreaded private sector.

The White House on Friday announced that it was withdrawing the nomination of Dawn Johnsen to head the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, citing lengthy delays in getting Johnsen’s nomination through the U.S. Senate.

Johnsen had gained next-to-no support among Senate Republicans, largely because of her criticism of the Bush administration’s terrorist interrogations. She had headed the Office of Legal Counsel in the Clinton administration on an acting basis in 1997 and 1998.

The Office of Legal Counsel post is considered one of the most important jobs in the Justice Department, because the office assists the attorney general in providing legal advice to the president. In a statement, White House spokesman Ben LaBolt blamed the demise of the Johnsen nomination on Senate Republicans.

“Her credentials are exemplary and her commitment to the rule of law has been proven time and again, but it is now clear that Senate Republicans will not allow her to be confirmed,” LaBolt said.

Perhaps she can get a job defending Gitmo detainees.  That seems to be all the rage for lefist lawyers these days.

Judging from the fact that 58% of Americans wanted the undies bomber waterboarded, I think Senate Republicans are only representing the wishes of the people – unlike the Democrats.

Breaking: Stupak The Sellout To Retire

Get ready for the Democrats and MSM to blame the mean voice mail messages he received for his retirement.

Nine-term Democratic congressman Bart Stupak, D-Michigan, will reveal Friday he is retiring from Congress, several Democratic sources close to Stupak tell CNN.

Good riddants, but the damage is done.

The Naivete Is Stunning

Your required reading for today is Charles Krauthammer’s take down of Obama’s preposterous new nuclear policy as only the Hammer can.

Under President Obama’s new policy, however, if the state that has just attacked us with biological or chemical weapons is “in compliance with the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT),” explained Gates, then “the U.S. pledges not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against it.”

Imagine the scenario: Hundreds of thousands are lying dead in the streets of Boston after a massive anthrax or nerve gas attack. The president immediately calls in the lawyers to determine whether the attacking state is in compliance with the NPT. If it turns out that the attacker is up to date with its latest IAEA inspections, well, it gets immunity from nuclear retaliation. (Our response is then restricted to bullets, bombs and other conventional munitions.)

However, if the lawyers tell the president that the attacking state is NPT-noncoirmpliant, we are free to blow the bastards to nuclear kingdom come.

This is quite insane. It’s like saying that if a terrorist deliberately uses his car to mow down a hundred people waiting at a bus stop, the decision as to whether he gets (a) hanged or (b) 100 hours of community service hinges entirely on whether his car had passed emissions inspections.

When you break it down as Krauthammer does, Americans have to scratch their heads and think “Say what?”  I wonder how the Democrats facing tough re-election races this November feel about Barry handing their opponents another winning issue.