Obama's Attorney at the State Department

I thought this was an old story, but it turns out we haven't mentioned it here at the HQ. Everything you wished you didn't have to know about Obama's choice for State Department legal adviser Harold Koh was written back in September by Ed Whelan.

Here's Part 1 and here is Part 2. A taste:

This passage from a 1994 New Republic article by Jeffrey Rosen (on the “emotional jurisprudence” of Justice Harry Blackmun) is also telling:

Why should liberals care if Blackmun was an indecisive, unsophisticated craftsman, unconcerned about dressing up his humane impulses in legal reasoning? "I'd rather have Blackmun, who uses the wrong reasoning in Roe to get to the right results, and let other people figure out the right reasoning," says Harold Koh of Yale, a former Blackmun clerk.
Koh also has the intellectual temperament of an ideologue. As one Yale law professor has charitably put it (in the Yale Daily News article above), Koh “tends to wear his convictions on his sleeve.” Others have found him to be a bully who uses his position of power to intimidate younger scholars into not contesting Koh’s cherished positions.

There are few lawyers more radical than Harold Koh. He is expected to be among Obama's picks for the Supreme Court and his nomination to State may be the first step. I can just see some knucklehead senator suggesting, "Well, we confirmed him for State, how can we say 'no' for the Supreme Court?"

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 08:21 AM

Comments

1 Make that a knucklehead Republican senator. It will happen.

Posted by: Bat Chain Puller at April 01, 2009 08:28 AM (4L46Y)

2 Yes and he thinks that Sharia law is just pretty peachy, too. {Man, are we gonna have fun, or what?!}

Posted by: Kae Gregory at April 01, 2009 08:31 AM (RkRxq)

3 Barry needed a wing-man to make himself appear more centrist...

Posted by: reason at April 01, 2009 08:35 AM (+hPIb)

4 Have to wonder when the Repubs will grow some balls.

Posted by: the real joe at April 01, 2009 08:36 AM (aqGyO)

5 Testicles are not very P.C. They offend potential moderate, female voters. At least, that's what they told me in my Sensitivity Training.

Posted by: The GOP at April 01, 2009 08:42 AM (+hPIb)

6 Make that a knucklehead Republican senator. It will happen.

Sounds like Arlen to me.

Posted by: David in PHX for now at April 01, 2009 08:50 AM (WVofM)

7 Hmmm

Sigh. Anybody believe the Republicans will put up a fight?

Posted by: memomachine at April 01, 2009 08:50 AM (oNWAo)

8 That Mad Max shit sounds better and better everyday. I can't wait.

Posted by: EC at April 01, 2009 08:52 AM (mAhn3)

9 Isn't Koh the Blackmun clerk that helped make special arrangements for the NY Times' Linda Greenhouse and NPR's Nina Totenberg to have a special 6 month advanced access to Blackmun's personal records?

This 6 month advance allowed the NY Times and NPR to author the history of Blackmun. Blackmun has buried the court with Roe and Doe.

Posted by: WTF Capital Investments at April 01, 2009 08:57 AM (AHrTm)

10 Koh sounds delightful. Perhaps we all can send him a "fuck you" postcard to brighten up his bureaucratic day?

Posted by: torabora at April 01, 2009 09:03 AM (rDgy7)

11 And everyone who is surprised at this,,,, please raise your hands. And I'm trying to think of a sign for a Tea Party. How does "Hey TOTUS - 48% never drank your kool-aid, and some of the 52% are waking up - with a bad hangover" sound?

Posted by: teej at April 01, 2009 09:04 AM (c459z)

12 According to "Above the Law" blog he is a very popular dean at Yale. The blog has 16 pages fo references to him so if you want to know about him it's there and in the yale newspapers.

Posted by: muffy at April 01, 2009 09:04 AM (zplc6)

Hey, OT. Why can't The One wear an American rep tie? Every picture I see of him, go to Drudge this morning, has him with an UK tie on. The strips go differently in the UK. Barry has a UK tie on. He wears them over here also,

What an arrogant prick.

Kemp

Posted by: kempermanx at April 01, 2009 09:07 AM (qvT/A)

14 Some Knucklehead...well hell, that describes about 90% of congress

Posted by: slizzle at April 01, 2009 09:12 AM (zG+3k)

15 "Axis of Disobedience"

google it

Posted by: franksalterego at April 01, 2009 09:13 AM (GKyIE)

I think TeaParty signs of the Teleprompter-headed President picture would be nice. The screens can display any number of short, pithy, computer-nerd phrases.

ALL YOUR CEO ARE BELONG TO US.
CAN I HAZ MORE POWER?
TAXX HAXX0R
WAFFLES WAFFLES LOL
MY ECONOMY MEGAHURTZ
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Posted by: reason at April 01, 2009 09:16 AM (F26eZ)

17 "Posted by guestTuesday, March 31, 2009 10:48 AM

Why would any law school want conservatives on its faculty? I still don't understand this aspect of "diversity." It's like the media giving equal time on shows (because it wants to be fair) to both the social scientist who has conducted rigorous studies showing that gay parents are just as effective and healthy parents as straight parents and the right-wing "think-tank" person (think: Tony Perkins) who peddles bigoted hate-speech about gay families based on the bible and "traditional values." Or it's like the climate change debate between an actual scientist and someone like Sen. James Inhofe. The media likes to give both sides an airing, but that doesn't mean both sides merit equal respect and stature.

Conservatives have been wrong about nearly everything for the last 160 years. They've been on the wrong side of history when it comes to civil rights, women's rights, gay rights, etc. etc. And now conservatives want a place at the serious table with serious scholars? Disgusting. It's repugnant to western values. They are repugnant to reason, rationality and serious discussion of serious issues. Imagine how much better off our country would be without people like Tony Perkins, Cheney, Gonzalez, Tom DeLay, etc. etc." http://tinyurl.com/cdexo2

This is from the comments section of ATL from the latest entry about this guy Koh.

Posted by: muffy at April 01, 2009 09:17 AM (zplc6)

Kemp - in all honesty, I bet he doesn't know. I mean, if the man lacks the nuance to know that DVDs play differently over there, he probably has absolutely no grasp of something as subtle as tie-stripe-direction.

I say this because, if you hadn't said anything, I would have had no idea that there is such a thing as UK stripe direction. I'm such an uncultured southern rube...

Posted by: reason at April 01, 2009 09:22 AM (F26eZ)

19 Is he wearing ties from PINK? http://tinyurl.com/dlfnyo

Posted by: muffy at April 01, 2009 09:31 AM (zplc6)

"You should vote for McCain even though you're not happy with everything he has done."

"Why should I vote for Juan McCain? I have principles."

"Think of the most important stuff, like the GWOT and judges."

"I'm not convinced. McCain is not safe on judges. I can't let go of my principles and keep voting for the lesser of two evils. I'm going Bob Barr."

SIGH.

Posted by: SalvucciFumbles at April 01, 2009 09:37 AM (YpFxG)

21 6 Make that a knucklehead Republican senator. It will happen.

Sounds like Arlen to me.

Nope. Arlen was the hero in the Clarence Thomas hearings. If he really really really wants to be re-elected, the only hope he has is to torpedo a crazy judicial appointment.

Posted by: AmishDude at April 01, 2009 09:43 AM (T0NGe)

22 the social scientist who has conducted rigorous studies showing that gay parents are just as effective and healthy parents as straight parents

Bwahahahaha!

Social science isn't.

Conservatives have been wrong about nearly everything for the last 160 years. They've been on the wrong side of history when it comes to civil rights, women's rights, gay rights, etc. etc.

I find it amazing how people who refuse to make cultural judgments have a very well-developed system of morality. Aren't they against women's rights, given their treatment of Islamic culture?

Posted by: AmishDude at April 01, 2009 09:55 AM (T0NGe)

23 Amish Dude, when I read that I thought to myself "this must be the beginning of the talking points memo from the dems because a lot of the posts from the lawyers were not so pro koh.

Posted by: muffy at April 01, 2009 09:59 AM (zplc6)

24 "I'd rather have Blackmun, who uses the wrong reasoning in Roe to get to the right results, and let other people figure out the right reasoning,"

The Republican line of attack should be: "Koh should run for office, not be a judge. He has the perfect temperament to be a Democratic Senator from Connecticut."

Posted by: Jean at April 01, 2009 10:02 AM (L64A6)

This Koh guy is scary, and I fear his nomination will not be sunk.

Related topic, I don't understand why more women (and gays) aren't screaming in outrage every single day about even the hint of introducing Sha'ria law into this country.

The next liberal woman friend who tells me that sort of stuff (the repression of women) can't happen here is going to be bitch slapped. Because there's been a whole bunch of shit in the last few months that "couldn't happen here" that is jolly well happening here.

Posted by: ParanoidInSeattle at April 01, 2009 11:06 AM (AJ4xq)

Can we call him a Kohholster?

And I read a long time ago in a trivia book that the reason for the stripes going the opposite ways are that one nation's tailors cut their cloth on the table face down while the other cuts it face up. (But I've forgotten which was which.)

Posted by: andycanuck at April 01, 2009 11:44 AM (e4vcn)

27 Well paranoid how come women didn't stand up when sarah palin was being desimated? They only speak up when they think it is good for them and they are too stupid to realize that guys like Koh are not good for women. Probably yalies are breathing a sign of relief that BO took him off their hands.

Posted by: muffy at April 01, 2009 11:47 AM (zplc6)

28 Hey jean wtf did I do to you? We don't need to replace a corrupt pos with a crazy pos ok?

Posted by: Unamerican hate mongering evil libertarian at April 01, 2009 11:54 AM (+GSP9)

29 Run for office, not win. Managing that is Steele's job.

Posted by: Jean at April 01, 2009 12:03 PM (L64A6)

"Can we call him a Kohholster?

Posted by: andycanuck at April 01, 2009 11:44 AM (e4vcn)"

There is a pic of him at dealbreaker, the link I posted. He looks like a chubby cherub.

Posted by: muffy at April 01, 2009 12:13 PM (zplc6)

31 sorry 26, Above the law has the pic and the link.

Posted by: muffy at April 01, 2009 12:13 PM (zplc6)

Dean of the Law school. And people wonder why lawyers rank below politicians in the public's esteem.

Hang them all.

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Posted by: ceaecw at April 01, 2009 09:16 PM (YRTmg)

Mr. Koh's mug shot demands a family tree search to find out just

where he fits in the Mao lineage. I hear the NYT has sent three of

the 97 covering Sara Palin's profligate use of toilet paper to check.

I'm waiting for their findings. I really am.

Posted by: grizzly bare at April 01, 2009 10:30 PM (8+zL9)

If it isn't Koh, it will be Bill Lann Lee. Not that that's much of an improvement.....

Actually had a case involving that spermburper Lee. Utter twit.

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