Obama's radical OLC nominee will clear the Senate

A serious and very unfortunate victory for Barack Obama was announced today. Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Penn.) indicated that after meeting with Dawn Johnsen, Obama's radical nominee to head up the Office of Legal Council, he will support her confirmation. With Republican senator Richard Lugar also in Johnsen's camp, this should clear her path through the Senate entirely.

The left-wing blogosphere is thrilled with this development, and they should be. Dawn Johnsen is a bona fide left-wing radical. She is vehemently pro-abortion and has argued that forcing a woman to carry a fetus to term is the equivalent of slavery. The Office of Legal Counsel is a crucial branch that essentially determines the law for the entire executive branch. With Specter giving in, that power will shortly be in Johnsen's hands.

Notes:

1. The Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) assists the Attorney General of the United States in his function as legal adviser to the President and all the executive branch agencies. The OLC drafts legal opinions of the Attorney General and also provides its own written opinions and oral advice in response to requests from the Counsel to the President, the agencies of the executive branch, and offices within the Department of Justice. Such requests typically deal with legal issues of particular complexity and importance or about which two or more agencies are in disagreement. The Office is also responsible for providing legal advice to the executive branch on all constitutional questions and reviewing pending legislation for constitutionality. The decisions of the Office are binding on all executive agencies.

2. Dawn Johnsen worked for the American Civil Liberties Union as a staff counsel fellow on a one-year fellowship from 1987 until 1988, and then worked for the National Abortion & Reproductive Rights Action League (currently NARAL Pro-Choice America) from 1988 until 1993. From 1993 to 1998, Johnsen worked in the Office of Legal Counsel in the Clinton Administration. She was a Deputy Assistant Attorney General from 1993 until 1996, and served as Acting Assistant Attorney General heading the OLC from 1997 until 1998.