Same Guy

The same prez who expresses "complete confidence" in his Attorney General despite the snooping on Fox News and AP during national security leak investigations is now being heralded by people like Rachel Maddow for his probable nomination of James Comey, a Republican and lefty folk hero for his hospital standoff over reauthorizing the Terrorist Surveillance Program during the Bush years, which was itself a secret national security program.

In other words, will a newly appointed Comey dig into anything and speak truth to power again?  Or stand up to the POTUS again, threatening to resign if this and such isn't terminated?   

Maddow also thinks Obama nominating "another Republican" to his administration is a big deal.  She marvels at how the Democrats "dont' mind" such a thing.   Not so fast.   Let's see, Bob Gates was part of the Iraq Study Group, which recommended that Bush should remove troops from Iraq, not surge.  Gates was part of the old GOP cabal of Skowcroft and Baker who didn't like Cheney and were critical of many administration decisions.

Chuck Hagel?  LOL, as they say.  He was against the Iraq war and publicly stood up to Bush.  Ray LaHood was a fellow Illinoisan and friend of Rahm Emanuel who never met an earmark he didn't like and has been a dependable advocate for pricey things like high speed rail.  And Jon Huntsman?  Well, part of his portfolio was favoring cap and trade, gay marriage and the DREAM Act.  That's the kind of Republican a Democrat can really support, and many of them did.  Imagine a Democrat opposed to abortion, favoring the Iraq war and against comprehensive immigration reform.  You'll have to imagine it because there aren't any prominent real-world examples.     

That's not to mention the appointment of people like general Shinseki, a liberal hero who complained about Bush, or the high profile use of Colin Powell as an informal advisor and public advocate, who talked smack about his own party while supporting one of the most liberal presidents ever elected and the same guy who was tangentially involved in the Libby/Plame affair.  Powell's former chief of staff Larry Wilkerson is one of the most vocal Bush haters on planet Earth.  So that's Maddow's definition of bi-partisan--anyone the left can use to poke the GOP, mainly Bush-Cheney, in the eye. 

The real test would be whether Maddow or her Democratic colleagues would support the appointment of a fellow Harvard grad and law professor as the Attorney General to replace Eric Holder.   Say someone like Ted Cruz.  What are the odds, Rachel?