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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JohnM who wrote (102807)	2/2/2009 11:49:00 AM
From: JohnM	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 542157

The Justice Department represents big change. The quoted text comes from a NYTimes article today. ------------------------------ February 2, 2009 THE 'SEA CHANGE' AT JUSTICE.... When it comes to delivering "change," and reversing the humiliating practices of the previous administration, perhaps no part of the executive branch is getting the kind of overhaul we're seeing at the Justice Department. "I can't imagine a more challenging time to come in as attorney general," said Walter Dellinger, a legal scholar who was an acting solicitor general in the Clinton administration. "The number of legal issues left behind to be resolved is really staggering." In the Justice Department, there is considerable restiveness as employees await new direction. The civil rights division, which had been reshaped in a conservative direction under President George W. Bush, is ripe for sharp change, administration officials said. "Many of us cannot wait for the changes," said one career lawyer in the division, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the atmosphere. [...] The shift is expected to be more stark than that of a transition from one party to another. It may resemble the start of the Reagan administration, with its promise of wide philosophical change to be put into effect by a cadre of enthusiastic outsiders and academics, whose views on how to run the department have simmered after years of watching from the outside. It's about time. The NYT report noted the areas where Obama administration policy will break with the Bush status quo at the Justice Department, and it's quite a list -- from creating a new detention policy for terrorism suspects to closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the so-called state secrets doctrine. An Obama administration lawyer said, "This will be a sea change of what went on before." What's more, there's just the right team to do it. While some areas of the Obama cabinet are more encouraging than others, the new Justice Department leaders -- A.G., Deputy A.G., OLC, Solicitor General, Justice's national security division -- couldn't represent a more thorough and encouraging break from the Bush era. —Steve Benen 9:30 AM washingtonmonthly.com

To: JohnM who wrote (102807)	2/2/2009 12:37:52 PM
From: Steve Lokness	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 542157

"The largest spending bill in history is going to turn out to be the one in Iraq. Sooooooooo, just because republicans had a big stupid spending bill that gives democrats the right to try to one up them on spending? I don't understand the logic. Overspending by republicans is one of the main culprits that put us in this mess, democrats would be wise to capitalize on that foolishness. If anything the spending on the Iraq war should give us pause to NOT heap up even more mountains of debt. Besides, I disagree that the Iraq war will be more than the stimulus plan - the stimulus plan has already passed the Iraq spending and the war spending was for two wars and over 7 years. One of those wars was a valid expense! Besides, republicans are not suggesting that the amount is too high for the most part - they are arguing that much of the democratic crap being proposed is not a stimulus. steve

To: JohnM who wrote (102807)	2/2/2009 1:09:25 PM
From: Suma	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 542157

I completely thoroughly emphatically agree John.HOw much for that war.... in another country that had nothing to do with 9/11. That is what people forget so conveniently. However Barney Frank is the Republican whipping boy. The comments that I have read are not flattering. He was the one who failed to be on the post when it was called for. He and Dodd.. AND there have been remarks that he was probably in a bath house. So denigrating. Beneath people actually. But then there are a great many small minds on S.I. and one does not have to go far to search for them. UNFORTUNATELY.