I am generally loathe to engage in the speculative diaries about who should be on the cabinet should Barack Obama win. But after watching Russ last night on "Countdown," it occurred to me that Feingold really should be our next Attorney General.
I know many people have their personal favorites (John Edwards' name comes up a lot), but think about this: which person has consistently been right in the fight for civil liberties? Which person was the only one to oppose the Patriot Act? Which person has led the charge to get big corporate money out of our politics?
Russ Feingold. And now, I think Russ can best serve his country again as Attorney General.
Russ has got the bonafides to do it. Harvard Law grad. Judiciary Committee, as well as Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Rights. ACLU lifetime score of 89, Americans for Democratic Action score of 98. No risk in losing his Senate seat (I think) as he is from Wisconsin who would have a Democratic Governor to appointment his replacement.
The only downside I see is that Russ is a bit of a maverick, and I'm unsure about his management style with respect to a large governmental agency. But hey, Janet Reno was considered too tough for the position, and she left DOJ has probably the most beloved AG by her employees in modern history.
I know I'd feel a lot more comfortable with Russ at DOJ. He could clean up the mess that has been left there, from the pervasive politicization of the Honors Program to DOJ's service as the puppet arm of the Executive during the Bush Administration.
Personally, if there were one person the netroots should want in any cabinet position, it would be Russ as AG. I have no idea if he would want the job, but in a way, it could sorta be our job to coax him...and put the idea in the ear of an incoming Obama administration.
So I'm fully behind Russ for AG. What do you think?