Commentary on Obama White House Counsel's Staff:
A friend and former Bush Administration lawyer writes in with some interesting thoughts on the initial staffing of the Obama White House Counsel's Office:
The lawyers are all very accomplished, with pedigrees from elite universities and distinguished clerkships (Breyer and Stevens seem to be the biggest feeder judges). By my count, there are 4 Deputy White House Counsels, 1 Special Counsel, 14 Associate Counsels and 4 Deputy Associate counsels. The total numbers aren't particularly out of line with past offices except for the George W. Bush White House Counsel's Office at the start, which had a total of only ten lawyers - one counsel, one deputy and eight associates. Bush's Counsel's office was quite different, and much larger, at the end of his term, once investigations started.
Two things stand out about the new Counsel's Office staff. First, there are way more deputies than in the past, and the resumes of the deputies suggest that they will play a major role in policy development, possibly at the expense of the DOJ's OLC and other agencies. On the other hand, the Obama Administration has expanded the policy capacity of the White House staff in general (adding new policy czars in a number of areas), so perhaps the added number of legal deputies is simply necessary to address the internal White House needs of the new czars. Second and more puzzling, the new Counsel's Office will include a non-lawyer research director position -- staffed by a former campaign opposition research specialist. Hopefully journalists will press to find out why this position has been created. It could simply be a mechanism for rapid response on judicial nominations, but it could also signal a desire to run political opposition activity out of the legal shop, which would be very unfortunate.
Sounds like good, clean politics to me! Just don't fire the US attorneys or I will whine till your ears bleed!
With apologies to the conservative lawyers here.
35 of the 55 founding fathers were lawyers.
Does that refute or support your complaint?
But given the stature of the appointments in the new administration's OLC, and Dawn Johnsen's high-visibility assertion of OLC independence, one would think they could hold their own.
Clayton Cramer and me are like twins!
Do you really believe that the "lawyers" of today are anything like the lawyers of 235 years ago? I don't.
Outside of the opposable thumbs?
It could also be a sign that the distinguished lawyers need someone to bring the donuts and to make coffee.
I doubt it. The official party line is that the reign of terror has ended. The US no longer tortures, it now keeps the country safe without compromising civil liberties in the slightest, our "credibility with the international community" is restored, the environment will be fixed by the end of the decade, race relations are almost repaired, oppression in all forms is nearly at an end, and by the time Obama exits office there will be no more war or disease.
Anyone who asks questions in light of all that is just out to sabotage the first black president. Besides, Obama needs to keep track of the bad people.
Better not have a $1000 tax lien against you that the state hasn't informed you of yet.
The Hitler YouthACORN will target you, and take your guns.And then the REAL looting begins.
Hell, if the medium is any good, they already know what's gonna happen and they can fire all the attorneys. Save the taxpayer some dough...
I think we should not overlook the possibility that the press office might actually tell us what this person will do. It's a radical thought, but things are working somewhat differently down there now.
[Citation needed]
And the blacks fit in there somehow as well.
No they're not.
Why didn't this fellow write any letters during the Bush Administration?
Is he upset based on principle, or based on politics?
The distinction being that today you disagree with their politics?
http://www.ombwatch.org/article/blogs/entry/3738/52
No, they didn't go to law school and even the few with degrees weren't "Doctors" of anything. And their apprenticeships didn't carry a starting salary of $160K/year.
I simply don't like lawyers very much.
Punchline:
"What do you call your act?"
"The Aristocrats."
LOL! Maybe when the tingling stops, but I doubt it.
"Bush was a huge success with no failures, it was just the media being unfair..."
or
"Obama could personally go on a serial killing spree and the commie liberal press will cover for him..."
Seriously, get over it.
Most basically, FOIA requests are apparently going to be much more fruitful.
Aw, that's not fair. Those $2K suits they sweat through trying to pull 2600 hours out of a crashing economy don't pay for themselves. Plus, they have to find a trophy wife that will put up with the workplace insanity to marry, otherwise they aren't "balanced" enough to be a partner - those wives aren't cheap. Add in a mistress and some hobby to keep them sane in the very fleeting "free time" - a boat or something - money management is _hard_.
If you have the DVD and haven't listened to the bits that didn't make the movie, do. I think the best of those are better than anything in the movie. My favorites were Doug Stanhope, Otto &George, and Kevin Pollack (channeling Albert Brooks).
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