I spent a lot of the last year writing about the disaster that is the Justice Department, so I think I might be a little biased on this question. From the U.S. attorney firing scandal to the politicization of the civil rights division, it's pretty clear that the Bush years have not been kind to what was once a great, and unbiased vestige of the law.
We've gone through three attorneys general since 2000, and one of them is still having trouble getting a job thanks to his notorious tenure as AG. The next attorney general is going to have a lot to clean up, so this job has never been more important.
Last Thursday were the confirmation hearings for Eric Holder, President Barack Obama's nominee to head the Department of Justice. Prior to the hearings, much had been made about Sen. Arlen's specter's statements that Holder could potentially be another Gonzales -- that is a butt-boy to the president. Despite these acrimonious statements, the hearings were anything but. The minority's questioning of Holder was more or less empty and political.
Holder held up beautifully and people from both sides of the aisle embrace his selection. His supporters ranged from the obvious Democratic supporters of Sen. Patrick Leahy and Sen. Chuck Schumer to former Sen. John Warner (R) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R).
By noon on Friday, the hearings had concluded and Leahy had requested a vote to pass Holder's nomination from Committee to the Senate. That will happen around 9 a.m. tomorrow morning-- the first full day of Obama's presidency. A quick headcount will find that the Senate Judiciary Committee will likely vote to recommend him for full Senate confirmation. By the end of this week, we should have a new man at the helm of the Department of Justice.
And not a moment too soon. Though I didn't know much of Holder before these hearings and the multitude of articles on him leading up to his confirmation, I found his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee excellent. He was calm and levelheaded, apologetic for past mistakes, and wise in speaking of howe he'd learned from them. He didn't strike me as partisan, and neither did his supporters.
In short, Holder has been my favorite appointment of the new presidency. In his testimony, and the testimony of others, he came across as a smart, capable man with a wealth of integrity-- and that's something the Justice Department can't have too much of these days.
-- Kate Klonick
Despite my frustration at various points in the last eight years, I found many conversations -- especially on the Left -- that ragged on Bush's presidency exhausting and counter-productive. The calls for impeachment, demands for a trial for war crimes, and even death threats, became battle cries of an impotent movement (or at least it was for the first six years), and I could never quite sign on board.
So suffice it to say that I am way late to this party, but now that I'm here I've got my dancing shoes on. We are just one week (one week!) from the end of the most memorable presidency in my admittedly short life and I almost don't know what we'll do without W to kick around.
If there's one thing I think sums up the abortion that is Bush's presidency, I have to go with "Mission Accomplished", the president's speech on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003, declaring victory in Iraq. Looking back, it seems like a terrible farce -- except of course it wasn't.
Bush really did stand in front of a giant Mission Accomplished banner and pretend that our commitment to Iraq as nearing its end. Now, almost six years later, we're only marginally closer to victory in Iraq, and certainly not even near "mission accomplished."
Unless, of course you were the soldiers on that ship, on that mission -- as the Daily Show so aptly pointed out.
Which brings me to my next point -- which is that despite his failed policy, terrible legacy, involvement in a never-ending war and the unholy mess he's made of the executive branch, Bush has served a few important functions these last few years.
For one, he's made for some damn good jokes. I am far from the first one to point the loss that political comedy will have on January 20th.
But perhaps more importantly, Bush finally forced liberals to get their act together -- Obama's campaign was one of the most phenomenally run political machines the world has ever seen. So much so that it's becoming a permanent fixture outside of the administration. A far cry from Kerry, Gore, or even Clinton.
Getting rid of Bush was a rally cry for Democrats -- even more so then Obama. It gave Democrats control of Congress for the first time since the early '90s, which had seemed an impossible task just six years before.
But the few positive things that Bush is leaving behind certainly don't make up for the disaster of the last eight years. Next Tuesday, I look forward to celebrating the beginning of a new epoch in American history, one without our Imperial President.
-- Kate Klonick
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