New Attorney General

[mr_heem]

Early reports are that Bush will be appointing Alberto Gonzalez, the current White House counsel, as the new Attorney General.

Legal buffs will recall that Gonzalez was the author of several infamous White House memos arguing, among other points, that the entire war in Afghanistan could be conducted exempt from any Geneva Convention obligations; and that the entire concept of "torture" needed to be redefined to remove restrictions on US personnel.

(In a less-noted contribution, Gonzalez was also responsible for reassuring Bush Administration officials, prior to the Iraq war, who were concerned about facing subsequent prosecution under the War Crimes Act.)

I'd look for a memo out of the Justice Department declaring the US's obligations under the WTO to be inapplicable oh, by around the middle of next week.

On the bright side, Gonzalez is supposed to have a much better singing voice than Ashcroft.