Upon assuming office last year, President Obama nominated Ms. Dawn Johnsen to head the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice. Ms. Johnson has an impressive resume. She is more than qualified for the position. And, oh yeah, for several years she worked as an attorney for the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League.
Like so many of the President’s nominations, this one has gotten caught up in the partisan bickering between Obama and the Republican Party. Still, perhaps emboldened by his victory on healthcare, a few days ago the President decided to bypass the stalled confirmation process during the Senate recess and appointed 15 of his nominees.
Unfortunately, Dawn Johnsen was not one of them.
The White House has not said anything specific about why Ms. Johnsen was not on the list. They merely confirm that they have appointed 15 other people.
Now, all of this is conjecture. I can’t prove a thing. But why do I have the feeling that she was not appointed because of the fear of enraging the anti-choice movement? Sure, there are about 50 other nominees who were not appointed as well (if you’re gonna appoint 15, why not go all the way?). But why is my stomach turning on this one?
Maybe I’m being too sensitive. Maybe writing a blog every day on the most controversial issue of our time is turning me into a warrior, a cynic. Maybe there are many other political machinations going on here that I am not aware of.
But what if I’m right?
Imagine the White House staff sitting around the office, looking at the list of nominations. When they got to Dawn Johnsen’s name, what was the reaction? Why do I believe that the word “abortion” came up, that the collective eyebrows all went up in unison and no one had the stomach to fight that one?
Geez, I hope I’m wrong.
Abortion - Abortion Clinics, Abortion Pill, Abortion Information 
March 29, 2010 at 4:28 pm
Pat, you might want to read the latest Harper’s, with Kevin Baker’s article, “The Vanishing Liberal: How the Left Learned to Be Helpless.”
One of his key points is that our major “liberal” candidates, like Kerry, Clinton and Obama, have surrendered the ability to fight for the right thing. Instead of saying, “I will bring Wall Street under control,” or, “I will fight for $500 billion to re-build every public school in America,” they instead patronize their demographic, posing in duck-hunting camouflage or matching shots and bumps in a neighborhood bar.
Obama is to presidential politics like Jackie Robinson was to baseball. The first “Negro” in the major league, Obama has to be purer, loftier, more civilized, more logical, more respectful than any white man reigning n the Oval Office. Lordy, if he got uppity to them white folks, how long do you think he’d last? Not only does he have the RNC against him, his own party has the DLC leaning on him to preserve their tax breaks and other perks. He’s got 70 other nominees that are going to be treated like Clinton’s Lonnie Guinier if they ever get to the floor, and he’s going to have to grin and take it.
cg
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