Because we believe in the importance of the constitutional separation of powers, we sometimes criticized Mr. Obama's predecessor when we thought he had received faulty legal advice that had resulted in presidential overreaching and ignoring of constitutional prohibitions. We will want to know that the current president will receive better counsel. All Americans - Republicans as well as Democrats - should want the same thing.
The president has nominated Dawn Johnsen, a University of Indiana law professor, as the director of his Office of Legal Counsel. The Senate should act expeditiously to approve her nomination. Though Ms. Johnsen's politics may not mirror the choice John McCain or other Republicans might have made - they lost the election, after all - her views on the limits of presidential power are precisely what the Constitution envisions and conservatives have long championed.
Just the kind of lawyer DOJ needs-- someone who will firmly repudiate the stench left behind by Ashcroft and Gonzales (we'll leave Mukasey off the hook).
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