The Seattle Times thinks former U.S. Senator Slade Gorton, who also was a four term elected Attorney General for the State of Washington and more recently served on the National Commission on 9/11, would make an excellent new Attorney General. They are right; it's a great idea.
I have known Slade for forty years. He is a dynamo--articulate, scholarly, and eminently practical. When he was AG for Washington his opponents once satirized him in a political cartoon as a school marm with a ruler. Actually, it was an unintended compliment, since everyone knows him as a man of no-nonsense integrity, which is exactly what you want as a top law enforcement official.
The Times suggests that if President Bush nominated him to replace Alberto Gonzales he could be confirmed easily by the U.S. Senate, many of whose members know him personally. That's true, but it might make better sense to avoid another long confirmation process and make a recess appointment that could take effect right away. After all, there is only a year and four months left of the Bush Administration and the need for leadership at the Department of Justice is now, not later this fall.
