The New AG

Glenn Greenwald has an important post on Gonzales's replacement. Among other things, he says (my emphasis):

That is not going to happen if the Democrats allow the confirmation of one of the ostensibly less corrupt and "establishment-respected" members of the Bush circle -- Michael Chertoff or Fred Fielding or Paul Clement or some Bush appointee along those lines. The new Attorney General must be someone who is not part of that rotted circle at all -- even if they are supposedly part of the less rotted branches -- since it is that circle which ought to be the subject of multiple DOJ investigations...

Congressional Democrats, insulting the intelligence of their own supporters, have repeatedly claimed to have trusted the Bush administration and its appointees only to be "betrayed" time and again -- they were "betrayed" by allowing the confirmation of Alito and Roberts to the Supreme Court based on false assurances that they would respect precedent; they were "betrayed" again by the agreement on the Military Commissions Act between the White House and Graham/Warner/McCain only to then have the agreement modified severely by last-minute changes; they were "betrayed" again by trusting Mike McConnell on the FISA deal; and they even claim to have been "betrayed" by supporting the confirmation of Gonzales himself based upon assurances at his confirmation hearing that he understood and would honor his independent role as Attorney General.

That excuse is not going to work again. Relying on assurances from some current Bush appointee that they will act independently is woefully and self-evidently insufficient. Only a truly outside figure, one who is entirely independent of the Bush circle, should be acceptable.

Pressuring Senate Democrats right away on this is vital.

He's right.

So, if you have a Democratic Senator, write them now and write them often. It doesn't matter that there are only 49 (48 till Johnson is back) because all they need is 40. So there are no excuses.