Step 3 is profit
Today I got a political email about our departing U.S. Attorney General, who, in the writer's words, "carried on the sorry tradition of his predecessors by aiding and abetting the Executive Branch in skirting and, more often than not, flouting the law altogether, justifying all manner of civil liberties and human rights violations and trampling the Constitution in the process."
Now, you can say you agree with that or not, but if you don't agree with it, you might have thought it was so when a president of the other political wing was head of the Executive Branch.
My point of this post is the writer's proposed solution: "It may be that the time has come to create a “non-political” and “independent” Attorney General, one who would serve the interests of the public by upholding the rule of law rather than justifying the whims of the President."
That's a lovely thought, but that was pretty much the end of the email. This leaves the question -- how do we go about putting into office this "non-political / independent" AG? The present system puts the nominating power in the hands of the President, and approval in the hands of the Senate -- who even if they hate the President and his choices, they have to eventually pick what they see as the lesser evil among them. Direct choice by the Senate would hardly be "non-political," as would direct election; being chosen by the Supreme Court would be problematic; and all these would require Constitutional amendment. As would pulling swords from stones (hey, it worked for England).
The more I think about it, the more I think the writer may as well have said, "it's high time we have a unicorn materialize on the Department of Justice front steps to be anointed Attorney General."
Do you have a solution?
Now, you can say you agree with that or not, but if you don't agree with it, you might have thought it was so when a president of the other political wing was head of the Executive Branch.
My point of this post is the writer's proposed solution: "It may be that the time has come to create a “non-political” and “independent” Attorney General, one who would serve the interests of the public by upholding the rule of law rather than justifying the whims of the President."
That's a lovely thought, but that was pretty much the end of the email. This leaves the question -- how do we go about putting into office this "non-political / independent" AG? The present system puts the nominating power in the hands of the President, and approval in the hands of the Senate -- who even if they hate the President and his choices, they have to eventually pick what they see as the lesser evil among them. Direct choice by the Senate would hardly be "non-political," as would direct election; being chosen by the Supreme Court would be problematic; and all these would require Constitutional amendment. As would pulling swords from stones (hey, it worked for England).
The more I think about it, the more I think the writer may as well have said, "it's high time we have a unicorn materialize on the Department of Justice front steps to be anointed Attorney General."
Do you have a solution?