Dawn Johnsen Withdraws
[Guest post by DRJ]
Another Obama nominee has decided to withdraw:
“President Obama’s pick to head the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel is withdrawing her nomination amid Republican protests over past statements she made on abortion and national security.
Dawn Johnsen said she was dropping out of the process because her “nomination has met with lengthy delays and political opposition that threaten” her objective to restore the office to its “best nonpartisan traditions” and “prevent OLC from functioning at full strength.”
“I hope that the withdrawal of my nomination will allow this important office to be filled promptly,” she said.
A White House spokesman said the president accepted Johnsen’s request.”
NRO’s Kathryn Lopez posted this comment from a DC insider:
“From a D.C.-er intimately familiar with DOJ/judicial fights in the Senate:
1) there is no connection with the timing of the Stevens announcement – the Johnsen thing was probably planned weeks ago to get “buried” with a Friday afternoon release.
2) Personally, I think Johnsen has done a disservice to the President by not withdrawing before this – they NEED to fill that important slot and she has been nothing but a political albatross.
3) This will dishearten already disheartened lib groups – unlike their conservative counterparts during Republican White Houses, liberal legal interest groups do not have a seat at the table regarding judicial selection – Johnsen was really a big coup for them – gone.
4) The Johnsen “journey” is the only way we stop extreme appointments – not with impotent threats of filibusters, but by raising the political stakes for Dem Senators in purple states. They don’t want to have to cast bad votes – make the vote go away. Johnsen was not beaten by a floor filibuster.”
This makes sense to me, especially the bolded portions of points 3 and 4.
— DRJ
Good riddance.
Only problem is that the next one is likely to be every bit as craptacular as the last.
JD (3f3e6c) — 4/9/2010 @ 8:21 pmAnother late Friday afternoon news dump from the White House. Another pathetic pick goes down in flames.
Go, Obami, go.
GeneralMalaise (268cf5) — 4/9/2010 @ 8:23 pmI’m amazed at the selflessness of the otherwise selfish, when it comes to teh One.
More and more of these folks strap on the vest and take one for
matador (176445) — 4/9/2010 @ 8:32 pmAllahObama.Anyone that Obama could not get through last year when he had 60 Democrats must really be outside the mainstream.
From what I have read of her, Johnson fit that description and I agree with JD, good riddance.
MU789 (00e597) — 4/9/2010 @ 8:59 pmGiven Johnsen’s very public opposition to Bush’s war on terror policies (thank goodness Obama ended that war) and Obama’s continuation of many of those policies, I wonder how she felt about indefinite detention without trial, the drone war over Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the targeting of an American citizen overseas for assassination. Obama may have started to regret the nomination.
Too bad he couldn’t just nail her for cheating on her taxes like so many of his other nominees. I’ll bet Liu’s taxes are a mess.
daleyrocks (1feed5) — 4/9/2010 @ 10:09 pmJug Ears isn’t going to “nail” anyone: the Klingon has possession of all the necessary hardware.
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 4/9/2010 @ 10:30 pmRed – To get rid of her.
daleyrocks (1feed5) — 4/9/2010 @ 10:50 pmAs K-Lo remarked, this is a valuable lesson for the various groups that are in opposition to Obowman’s agenda. They should be using this victory as a template for whomever is nominated to replace Stevens…his replacement will be no “moderate”, but someone replicating the views of Dawn Johnsen.
AD - RtR/OS! (4a3dc0) — 4/9/2010 @ 10:53 pmCan you believe these people? I think she intended to turn the OLC into a platform from which she would impose her partisan positions on war and abortion on the Federal justice system. Good riddance, indeed.
Let’s hope we can also help Goodwin Liu to withdraw his nomination to the 9th Circuit Court.
Stu707 (0981d5) — 4/9/2010 @ 11:07 pmIt is a shame that at a time when we have so many real problems to face in the world we have to put so much time and energy into defending our country from the enemies within who wish to transform her into her antithesis.
Amused Observer (7fb53d) — 4/10/2010 @ 12:51 amYet another piece of crap excuse for a human being that defends abortion based on the — unwritten — rule of “out of sight, out of mind”. If she were involved in a case of a mother accused of physical abuse, she would probably be the first to call for removal from the home.
Actually, in an odd way that shows some consistency on her part — removing the child from its natural environment is okay for her at ALL stages of development; presumably, from conception thru age 18.
Icy Texan (665e90) — 4/10/2010 @ 4:29 amLiu is the one who concerns me now – like “the wise Latina,” he’s expressed some truly excreable ideas regarding reparations and other idiotic yet dangerous ideas of judicial activism. Just say no, GOP – hell no.
Dmac (21311c) — 4/10/2010 @ 8:42 amDmac, it is the current battle between intepretationalists and literalists. The interpretationalists want to feel good about themselves, so they bend rules and laws to fit what they perceive “ought to be” in society.
Yet those same interpretationalists detest when “the other side” does precisely the same thing.
This is why literalism is a better choice. That doesn’t change with the cultural mores.
Eric Blair (c8876d) — 4/10/2010 @ 8:49 amI’m not well – versed on the law, Eric – but this group of characters doesn’t seem too fond of possible constructionists on the court, if I’m correct on that parameter.
Dmac (21311c) — 4/10/2010 @ 10:39 amTo me, she looks like a man-hating bull dyke who would like to boil babies in a pressure cooker.
Good Riddance to such uglyness!
Conway (773e54) — 4/10/2010 @ 7:52 pm[…] by KingShamus on April 11, 2010 DRJ over at Patterico’s Pontifications finds a very nice nugget. “From a D.C.-er intimately familiar with DOJ/judicial fights in the […]
Dawn Johnsen and How the GOP should fight future Obama nominees « Blog de KingShamus (e8d94c) — 4/11/2010 @ 8:21 am