So some Justice Department officials knew the Bush administration had approved the use of severe interrogation techniques...so? Clement is blameless unless he was in the room when the approval came. Or maybe not. Is he blameless if he "can't recall" any of the details? Can he actually be described as "knowing" something if he can't remember the information? These and other absurd "Dances with facts" brought to you by our former A.G., Alberto...

And btw, heckuva time to move to D.C., Tim.

same as the old boss".

The Who

This came the AP wire, author Mark Sherman. I had to check, because I thought it might be a WH press release at first.

WASHINGTON - Paul Clement, who will serve as interim attorney general, is a meticulous, affable conservative with friends across the political spectrum....

In his current post, Clement is the administration's top lawyer at the Supreme Court. He regularly argues the most important cases that come before the court, defending Bush's anti-terrorism program as well as federal laws imposing limits on abortion and campaign fundraising....

Clement is not facing a similar crisis, although he has been asked by senators to order an independent investigation of aspects of Gonzales' tenure. So far, he has not publicly answered that request.

And he saves beached dolphins on weekends, I suppose. What a hero! Reinhard Heydrich was meticulous and affable, by all accounts, but that doesn't mean I'd want him for AG. And no, I'm not saying Clement is another Heydrich. However, I am saying that this absurd bit of puff-up writing could describe almost anyone -- the story makes no note of the scandals Grieve so helpfully reminded us of, or the fact that Clement has helped the Administration stake out some rather odious positions in his days as Solicitor General.

Dems should be signalling to the WH that the only name they'll accept is Pat Fitzgerald. All other political hack appointees will be filibustered.

CT Voter, I’ll go you one better: is it “knowing” if “in your heart of heart” you know something isn’t true? [See Maliki’s statement that Iran is being constructive and Bush’s response that “I don't think he, in his heart of heart[s], thinks they're constructive either.”]

I’m sure Clement knew in his “heart of heart” that our executive doesn’t use torture, not in the U.S., because we’re better than that.

Or at least we used to be.

Clement, in his short forty-one years, has a achieved an impressive Conservative resume:

• Clerked for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia
• Worked at Kirkland & Ellis in high-powered appellate group led by one-time Solicitor General Ken Starr.
• Worked for then Republican senator from Missouri John Ashcroft
• Collaborated on Bush v. Gore, supporting George W. Bush on behalf of Republican voters
• Described as affable, prepared, and quick on his feet

Says Nan Aron, president of the Alliance for Justice, “There is no indication in this guy's record that he's an independent thinker or has any sense of balance.”

Says, Paul Clement himself, “If you've got a statute to defend, it doesn't much matter how you would have voted on the statute if you were a congressman… Your job is to marshal the best argument for the defense of the statute or the policy that gets the job done.”

Paul Clement, a man who’ll do what Bush tells him to do. With a smile.

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1073944820670

I was sure that the president would see the latest phase of the mass exodus as a sure sign that his administration had strayed into diabolical waters; that the American People, the Congress and his own party had turned against his rogue presidency. I truly believed that he would see AG's resignation as a clarion call for reform, candor and deference to the Will of the People.

I also thought that he would hire fucking C-3PO as a replacement for Karl Rove.

More news from the echo chamber. Why isn't the MSM profiling this simpering ass monkey? Sounds to me like this guy could prove MORE dangerous then the Albert "The Gonz" Gonzarelli.

"Wide Stance Republicans. What do you think about THAT?"

ticker = sticker. guess i got a little excited.

Anyone who clerked for Scalia has no business being involved with anything related to justice. That should be the ultimate deal killer.