Michael Chertoff: Another Stupid Cabinet Choice
In news only slightly lighter than Cyetain’s initial offerings, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at Michael Chertoff, the Bush administration’s new nominee for chief of Homeland Security.
Civil liberties types are wary of Chertoff because of his work in the Attorney General’s office in the months following 9/11. Chertoff established the use of the status of “material witness” to hold 762 foreign nationals indefinitely without charge. Chertoff ported the material witness concept over from his successful work targeting organized crime in New York in the U.S. Attorney’s office in the ‘90s (a position he was hired into my none other than Rudy Giuliani). The Justice Department’s inspector general later issued a report that was critical of the policy. Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies, told WaPo today that "We're very concerned that Judge Chertoff views immigration solely through the lens of national security and counterterrorism, and that his record on counterterrorism needs to be closely examined."
Chertoff has also come under heat for spearheading the blazingly inept prosecution of Zacarias Moussaoui. Chertoff was among the strongest proponents of the vapor-theory that Moussaoui was the fabled “20th hijacker,” despite the fact that there was never a single shred of evidence behind this theory.
Finally, liberals can’t forgive Chertoff for his work on Alfonse D’Amato’s Senate Whitewater investigation committee, were he established himself forever as an enemy of Bill and Hillary. Here again, it looks like Chertoff proved to be an ineffectual investigator and litigator: no charges were ever filed.
As near as I can tell, the problem with this guy is not that he doesn’t take civil liberties seriously enough, nor do I care that he tried to take the Big Dog down. What I do care about is that he comes to the position with 1) no experience running a massive conglomerate of any kind, 2) no qualifications for anything to do with the war on terror or homeland security except his record at Justice, 3) his record at Justice in the capacity of lead legal mind in the war on terror is poor, at best.
My concerns about Chertoff are not unlike my concerns about most of Bush’s cabinet. It is an understatement to say that he is wholly unqualified for the position, just like Gonzalez at Justice and Rice at State.
Slate.com's Fred Kaplan was very pleased with himself last week when he came up with the suggestion that Homeland should be run by someone with some serous corporate M&A experience. He hosted a reader poll which, not surprisingly, landed on Jack Welsh as the best bet. I can’t say that I think that is such a bad idea. Kaplan is dead on that the major challenge at Homeland is operating a massive organization comprised of 23 agencies whose day to day activities have almost no connection to each other. What the hell does Chertoff bring to this position? Nothing.
Another stupid choice. A little less homeland security.
Hillary’s Nemesis, Mean Mike Chertoff, Is Up for Homeland – NY Observer
Some Questions, Mr. Chertoff – Slate
Michael Chertoff: Worse Than Kerik - Newshounds
Chertoff praised as good choice to run Homeland Security, work with both parties - Detroit Free Press
