PS - Who's next?

There is considerable speculation about who the next nominee for US Attorney General might be. Among the candidates touted, the name of Larry Johnson seems to surface repeatedly. A former Justice Official in the Bush Administration, Johnson now serves as General counsel for Pepsico. Johnson also happens to be Afro-American.

While Johnson is undoubtedly talented, it is to be hoped that he is also smart enough to retain a sense of pride and self preservation. It may be that this would be his only opportunity to hold the top law enforcement position in the United States, if Bush were to offer the appointment. Yet if ethnicity and history mean anything to Johnson, much less personal integrity, he would decline consideration. To take on the top position in a seriously dysfunctional Justice Department that has been subjugated to the Bush White House and thereby lost all credibility and respect would be a thankless and largely unproductive stint. To take on the position as first Black Attorney General after Alberto Gonzalez has disgraced his heritage by abject failure and dereliction of duty as the first Hispanic Attorney General would be a grave tactical error.

Johnson would be remembered as the guy brought in during the lame duck portion of the GW Bush presidency to "clean up" after the mess that an incompetent and morally compromised Gonzalez had made. He would not likely be permitted to truly correct the mistakes made during the Gonzalez tenure because the White House would not allow it. In short, no real good could come of such an appointment. Yet men have been known to act against self interest and stoop to useless acts when presented with appeals to their vanity intead of their intellect and good character.