Dawn Johnsen

The news Friday afternoon that Dawn Johnsen is withdrawing her nomination to head the Office of Legal Counsel would probably have gotten more attention than it did had there not been a lot else going on in the news yesterday and today. It's a big deal.

Glenn Greenwald argues the case that the White House did not expend very much capital trying to get her confirmed, and that while her views coincided with the statements of candidate Obama, President Obama has turned out to embrace much of the Bush Administration's legal views on torture and accountability, and Johnsen would have challenged those positions.