10 responses to “Good Advice”

1. 

   Tsar Nicholas

   November 18, 2012 at 2:57 pm

   Did Kagan give that same advice to Senate Democrats in Jan. 2001 and then again in Jan. 2005?
2. 

   Steven L. Taylor

   November 18, 2012 at 3:06 pm

   @Tsar Nicholas: Does it matter? It is either good advice, or it isn’t. Tit for tat is behavior suitable for children.
3. 

   Doug Mataconis

   November 18, 2012 at 3:32 pm

   Fights over cabinet level nominations are rare. The last one that comes to mind was John Bolton in 2005, which GWB won by making a recess appointment. Before that, there was the double disaster at the beginning of the Clinton Administration when two Attorney General nominees in a row had t step aside because of issues involving nannies who were not in the country legally. Before that, there was John Tower’s ill-fated nomination to be Bush 41’s Secretary of Defense, which was surprising considering that Tower was a former Senator and which led to Bush selecting a guy named Dick Cheney for his Secretary of Defense.

   Before `89 I can’t recall any serious fights over nominees. I don’t remember any during the Reagan years at all.
4. 

   Steven L. Taylor

   November 18, 2012 at 3:34 pm

   @Doug Mataconis: There was also a nanny-related issue for Bush’s Sec of Labor nominee (Linda Chavez)
5. 

   Doug Mataconis

   November 18, 2012 at 4:07 pm

   @Steven L. Taylor:

   Ah yes, I had forgotten about that one.

   I’m honestly not sure if there were any serious challenges to cabinet nominees before John Tower in 89. Like I said none that I can remember. Heck, I don’t think there had ever been a Supreme Court nominee rejected until Nixon nominated Hayneworth and Carswell in 1970.
6. 

   stonetools

   November 18, 2012 at 5:13 pm

   Well, it sounds like sensible advice. Sadly, I expect the Republicans to do the opposite.
7. 

   Doug Mataconis

   November 18, 2012 at 5:50 pm

   @stonetools:

   Based on her advocacy of the absurd “Responsibility To Protect” Doctrine, I don’t want Susan Rice anywhere near Foggy Bottom for the next four years.
8. 

   Stonetools

   November 18, 2012 at 10:59 pm

   @Doug Mataconis:

   I don’t remember a “responsibility to protect” doctrine. Maybe you can spell out your objections to her in a later post.
9. 

   Geek, Esq.

   November 19, 2012 at 10:36 am

   Don’t forget Bernie Kerik, Department of Homeland Security nominee.
10. 

    Geek, Esq.

    November 19, 2012 at 10:39 am

    @Doug Mataconis:

    Any Obama nominee is going to have that stand, because that’s what Obama believes.