This morning MSNBC reported that our Dear Leader was
furious at the speed of the federal response to the Katrina disaster. No doubt heads will roll, starting of course with anyone critical of the administration's performance.
Luckily for the cause of the GWOT (or whatever it's being called this week), Dear Leader found the time yesterday to take advantage of everyone's attention being on New Orleans, and gave a recess appointment to Alice S. Fisher to lead the Justice Department's Criminal Division. (via TPM)
Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) had placed a hold on Ms. Fisher's appointment because, as the #2 person in the Criminal Division, she had been accused of being complicit in the administration's encouragement of torture at Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, and other U.S. detention facilities. As is typical of this administration, evidence that would resolve this dispute (in this case, the testimony of a potential witness) was kept from the Senate (in this case by Attorney General Gonzalez).
As sad as it is to say given the enormity of what's going on in New Orleans, we had all better pay very close attention to the Roberts hearings, still due to start next week. I suspect that our "furious" president (or at least the folks in the administration responsible for things other than bike rides, guitar picking, jogging, napping, brush clearing and pretzel chewing) will try to take advantage of the nation's diverted attention.