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Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Law - "GOP state senators off track on Dawn Johnsen"
An editorial today from the Bloomington Herald-Times ($$):
So, 31 of Indiana’s 33 Republican state senators have asked U.S. Sens. Evan Bayh and Richard Lugar to oppose the nomination of Indiana University law professor Dawn Johnsen to be assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel in the Justice Department.What a crock of political garbage.
One of two things is going on here.
Maybe each of these 31 senators has done extensive research and concluded that Johnsen, a Bloomington resident, is unfit for the job. That would at least be honest. But it also would be a waste of their time, seeing as how the state’s senators and their colleagues in the House of Representatives couldn’t finish their own work on time. They will be called back to Indianapolis for a special session to try to pass a budget, and they would serve Hoosiers much better by spending all their lawmaker time and energy determining just how that is going to get done.
But, of course, the other possibility is much more likely. That option is that the signing senators have no clue about the record and abilities of Johnsen, and just did the political bidding of Indiana Right to Life in opposing her for a top post in the Obama administration. That group gave Indiana Senate President Pro Tem David Long of Fort Wayne a letter trashing Johnson, and Long dutifully passed it around for the GOP’s lemmings to sign.
Only Republican Sens. Vaneta Becker of Evansville and Teresa Lubbers of Indianapolis showed integrity in this matter. Both refused to sign. Becker said she did not know enough about Johnsen to have an opinion, and Lubbers said she believed Lugar could make his own decision.
Both demonstrated independent thinking and reasoned thought, traits that are attractive in public officials. The other senators showed neither in their political posturing.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on May 20, 2009 10:07 AM
Posted to General Law Related