Here's an important article from of all places the Washington Times:
Conservatives hunt for next Van Jones
Emboldened by the ouster of presidential adviser Van Jones, conservative and business groups are launching fresh challenges aimed at derailing President Obama's nominees.
The latest of these targets is David Michaels, Mr. Obama's pick to head the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), who as an academic published a book attacking corporate executives for the tactics they used to fight class-action lawsuits. Republican critics said they considered Mr. Michaels to be too close to trial lawyers because of his aggressive advocacy on their behalf.
As it happens, David Michaels is eminently qualified, another Obama appointee that is a subject matter expert and a world class talent. My friends the reveres have the scoop over at Effect Measure, the public health blog:
His [David Michaels] name comes up not because he's my friend but because of his contributions to public health. His PhD is in occupational epidemiology and he's made important contributions in the area of popcorn workers lung (despite the humorous name, it is a deadly disease) and beryllium poisoning. He knows government well, having served as Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety and Health at the Department of Energy in the Clinton years, and he has written a highly praised book, Doubt is their Product: How Industry’s Assault on Science Threatens Your Health (one of Library Journal's top 10 sci-tech books of 2008 and an Honorable Mention in the Society for Environmental Journalism's 2009 Awards for Reporting on the Environment for the category Rachel Carson Environment Book Award). Not good enough for you? In 2006 David got the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award and shortly Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society will give him the John P. McGovern Science and Society Award. Still not good enough for you?
The right wing hates him. That should be all you need to know.
But it isn't all you need to know. In addition to his above qualifications, you also need to know that OSHA exists to protect workers. We have a fine acting Director in Jordan Barab (this is an AFL-CIO link), also known for a great blog called Confined Space before taking on the OSHA job. Revere at EM further and accurately states:
None of that crap is about OSHA or the workers who will be killed in trench cave-ins or scaffold falls or health care workers unprotected from pathogens (including flu) in the hospital. It's just more cynical smear attacks, but this time it has potentially deadly consequences. It is a Very Big Deal, not just for public health but for the health of working men and women in this country. David has been my friend and colleague for many years. Much more importantly, he is a friend and colleague of workers and their progressive advocates everywhere.
I don't know him like the reveres do, and he's not my friend in that sense, but he's a friend of everyone who works in America. That alone is enough to qualify him, but the politics of it are also worth fighting for. We don't need a horse's ass lawyer running an important federal agency charged with public safety (been there, done that with FEMA.) We need an expert and a mensch, and that's what we have with David Michaels. Obama needs to do the right thing both substantively and politically and get this nomination through. And if it makes Ken Blackwell sad, too bad for him.