A Fight That Matters

When George W. Bush left office, it felt like everyone breathed a sigh of relief. After eight hard years, it seemed that sanity had returned to our country and, once again, the rule of law would reign supreme.

For those of us who believed that the dark days of President Bush's lawbreaking were behind us, it has been a rude awakening to see how stridently the GOP has attacked Dawn Johnsen, President Obama's nominee to clean up the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice.

Although it may sound obscure, the Office of Legal Counsel plays a critical role in ensuring that the government plays by the rules. Under President Bush it was "ground zero" in providing the legal justification to wiretap phone calls of American citizens and to torture detainees using inhuman interrogation techniques such as water boarding. Bush Office of Legal Counsel opinions defied the Constitution, the Convention Against Torture, the Geneva Conventions, and the Supreme Court.

Indeed, it's fair to say that for all the misdeeds and mismanagement that went on under the Bush White House, the rot at the Office of Legal Counsel may well have been the worst. It epitomized our government's shameful refusal to respect the core principles of our Constitution.

To restore integrity and respect for the rule of law to the Department, President Obama has nominated an inordinately qualified individual - Dawn Johnsen - who is now being attacked by Republicans and her right-wing allies for having the nerve to criticize Bush administration excesses. They're faulting her for criticizing OLC opinions that the Bush administration itself repudiated. In other words, she's being pilloried for having the very integrity and respect for the rule of law that the Bush OLC so clearly lacked.

Senator Cornyn has the temerity to say that Johnsen lacks the "requisite seriousness" to head the OLC. Hogwash. Here are the facts. Johnsen, who is currently a professor at University of Indiana's School of Law, is an expert in constitutional law. I know from experts I've talked to that she has the intellect, the judgment, and the integrity to run the OLC the way it ought to be run--she even ran the office for over a year under Bill Clinton, earning respect from both sides of the aisle. When the abuses of the Bush administration OLC became known, she worked with 18 other former OLC lawyers of both parties to draft a set of principles --grounded in transparency and respect for the role of Congress and the courts -- that should guide the office in its work.

But because Johnsen had the nerve to openly criticize the Bush administration's claims to be above the law, the GOP is worried: worried I guess that she might actually expose the excesses that permeated the Bush Justice Department.

And because she had the courage to defend a woman's right to choose as the Legal Director of NARAL, the religious right is out for blood. They believe that anyone with pro-choice credentials should be excluded from public office, and they're demanding that Republican senators vote accordingly.

Even with 58 Democratic senators, the GOP can still stage a filibuster, and that's exactly what they're threatening. We can't afford for this issue to remain under the radar. Senators need to hear loud and clear that we want to move past the dangerous politics of the Bush era and towards an era of honesty and respect for the law.

Make no mistake -- the success or failure of Dawn Johnsen's confirmation will be a crucial turning point in President Obama's first term. If the Republicans and their Right Wing allies are able to prevent her from taking office, they'll have demonstrated an ability to block any nomination for the most craven, partisan reasons.

When Dawn Johnsen takes that oath of office, we'll truly start to be a nation of laws again.

Comments

[Wrenigade]

Kathleen,

I have always admired your work on screen, but I haven't seen nor heard much of you in recent years. And that's why I was especially happy to read your comments, and I appreciate the fact tht you take a stand as an artist. It was a good read. I hope to see more of you on screen in coming months/years.

[muscleboundH]

WELL SAID! THANK YOU!

[manny127]

if the Repubs are so determined to filibuster, then let them!

the tide is turning against the Bush administration after the OLC memos were released

if these Sentors really feel that by publicly consenting to keep further details out of the light will somehow benefit them, then let them...
i just hope their constituents see them for what they are trying to do.

real Americans will not stand for the crimes done in our name..

[alabaman]

Kathleen,
I love your husky, smoky voice. I would love to see on on stage doing "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."

[alabaman]

Let the Dems do what the Reps once threatened to do: use the "nuclear option" and have the VP declare the filibuster unconstitutional. At least the threat worked, becaise the Dems stopped blocking Bush's nominees.

[Sealthbomber]

What's wrong with the truth? If the previous administration had no compunctions about policies of the Office of Legal Counsel that they instituted, then why should they be concerned if Dawn Johnsen openly reviews their legal justifications. The Republicans are the Grand Old Party. Let's see up close and personal all the things that make them, or that they believe, make them grand. What do they have to hide? In the authentic United States all shades of opinion are entitled to an open forum. Are they afraid that We the People will perhaps take exception to what the Bush OLC has wrought? Are they afraid of government in the sunshine? If there is something to be proud of, then, take pride in it.

[Pupadup4oBama]

Well said!!!

Great article, Kathleen. Thank you!!

[tubette]

Well said!!

[csavage]

Thanks for bringing this up...Also, people need to be reminded that Clinton was able to fill only a fraction of open federal judge positions during his tenure because of obstructionist Repub politicians. This is not a new tactic...t­his is a decades old plan to circumvent the will of the people and install a permanent Repub based government that benefits only a few. The Repub sheeple don't know about it and don't want to see this-it's up to liberals and the moderate middle to keep this issue visible. Meanwhile, the RNC and their mouthpiece Faux News distracts their base with "Tea Parties". Most of the "teabaggers" had no real comprehension of what they were protesting about!

[Yermammy]

Thank you, Ms. Turner. Dawn Johnsen is far and away the best nomination that Barack has made and it's got corrupt politicians (on both sides of the aisle) shaking in their boots. The more they resist this, the more it HAS to be done. The very fact that Republicans threatened the "nuclear option" on Ms. Johnsen if the memos were released is a very desperate attempt at bargaining the Rule of Law. Presidents have been pushing the limits on executive power for a long time, where the present one has outdone his predecessor, but in Barack Obama we have a man capable (if not fully willing) to make this change. That's where WE come into the equation. Life and Democracy are not spectator sports. ACTIVATE, or lose your civil rights and what it means to be free in these United States of America.

[ntmessage]

NARAL and ACLU activists have a hard time getting approved.

[jmpurser]

Which is why this is a fight that matters. We need people with a track record of integrity and the character to stand up and fight for the rights of others.

[Hugh-Gee]

Probably, but Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a member of the ACLU board.

[mergina]

Well my dear, it is an established fact that the Republican Party is the Pary of Rich for the Rich and to hell with the masses, the Party of LIes, the Pary of Greed, the party of Murder, whatever it takes for them to keep getting richer and to hell with everyone else. What happens when a powerful dem is in office, is that they move further to the right, spawning even further nutcases to the right, which in turn spawns DOMESTIC TERRORISM, at times on a grand scale as we saw in Oklahoma City during Clintons reign. Waco and Oklahoma City both happened during this period, and are a perfect example of how their lies and obstructionism spawns fear, paranoia, and death.

[fightorleave2]

We see the latest Waco/Oklahoma City types already; they are the seemingly new phenomenon of rightwing shooters who storm 'liberal' churches or any perceived liberal cause. They are clearly driven by the hate and violence beloved in America. While they resemble the school shootings of the 1990s, which, in contrast, children carried out and seemed due to prescription medicines, the recent rampages resemble the so-called terrorist assaults in India, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The tactics and strategies are eerily similar.

[SEQUOIABISON]

Thank you Ms Turner for your endless outspoken commitment to fairness and justice.

[LMPE]

What? You thought that once Bush was gone, the right wing would roll over and play dead? Oh no. They're probably just getting started. I just bet that they're going to look for anything to go after Obama. I wouldn't put anything past the right wing.

Keep up the good work, Ms. Turner! I loved you in "Serial Mom"!

[redraspberry]

They worry now after the dirty deeds have been done????? They should have worried while they broke the law during Bushkies rein.

[breakingpoint]

Cornyn has to be the biggest foot dragger in the Senate.

Rather than maintain the status quo by bowing to their corporate funding masters just once it would be nice to see this Duopoly in Congress actually do the right thing.

Here's a chance for a good start.

I'll call, but won't be holding my breath.