This Looks Like a Job For . . .

Apparently congress created a kind of nuclear terrorism czar position in 2007 on the recommendation of the 9/11 Commission and the Bush administration has just decided not to fill it. This is about what you'd expect from an administration with a chillingly terrible record on nuclear proliferation, and also a reminder that this -- rather than the vice presidency -- is a job for which Sam Nunn would be an excellent choice.

Comments

And also a reminder of why Sam Nunn being on Obama's list of foreign policy advisors shouldn't be viewed as problematic.

Posted by DTM | June 23, 2008 2:25 PM

I really don't think Sam Nunn is being seriously considered for the VP spot. He might tip Georgia, but there are plenty other folks with good foreign policy chops that don't carry his Don't Ask Don't Tell baggage. You can pander to the middle only so much, and that's not a battle Obama should fight with his base.

Posted by RoboticGhost | June 23, 2008 2:35 PM

Sam Nunn strikes me as the kind of guy who'd be an ideal ambassador to Niger . . .

Posted by rea | June 23, 2008 2:57 PM

Outside of foreign work on non-proliferation, you should know better than to promote the sort of thinking that a homeland nuclear terrorism czar embodies. We cannot ever secure our borders completely. We do not need more radiation detectors or scanners, but merely more diligent foreign work. And believe me, any appointee will likely just shrill about the need to spend more on this.

Posted by Andrew Wagner | June 23, 2008 3:00 PM

Andrew's right. And you know what happens to czars in Washington DC? The barons ignore them and the peasants eventually revolt and throw them out.

Posted by Jason | June 23, 2008 3:55 PM

Andrew's right. And you know what happens to czars in Washington DC? The barons ignore them and the peasants eventually revolt and throw them out.

Posted by Jason | June 23, 2008 3:56 PM

Pundits love czars. The only thing a pundit loves more than a policy czar is a blue ribbon, bipartisan commission that issues recommendations. Matt is in blogger heaven here.

Posted by Helter | June 23, 2008 4:33 PM

So legally, can the Dems move to fill this position, since the President is ignoring it? "Sorry George has been so busy, so we're proposing (insert retired wonk) to fill the position. We will debate it among ourselves next week." Can the president be left out of presidential appointments?

Posted by Deborah | June 23, 2008 4:36 PM

That can await the Obamessiah. For if he can commandeth the ocean's rise to slow, the Planet to begin healing, the work to cure the sick start (from his speech the night he became the defactor Nominee) - surely the Obamessiah can create a nuclear terror czar to advise him which countries we must secure nuclear material in, which countries need to hear the Black Savior's words of wisdom and redemption so they quit making nukes, and of course which rogue nations that refuse to stop nuclear activity (Syria, N Korea, Iran) need to be bombed into the Stone Age 1st.

For the sacred 9/11 Commission has spoken to the masses, in a sense to prepare them for the coming of the Great Man whose wife tells the masses "He will make you work. He will Make you think. You will never go back to your life as it was after join Obama". And Obamessiah has committed to the Commissioner's unalterable wisdom....

For Nuclear terrorist czar, he has lots of now or soon to be unemployed neocons to choose from.

Posted by Chris Ford | June 24, 2008 1:01 AM

Outside of foreign work on non-proliferation, you should know better than to promote the sort of thinking that a homeland nuclear terrorism czar embodies. We cannot ever secure our borders completely.

It doesn't seem to be a homeland nuclear terrorism czar:

Under the law at issue, which Bush signed on Aug. 3, 2007, the nuclear antiterrorism coordinator would serve as the "principal adviser to the president on all matters relating to the prevention of weapons of mass destruction proliferation and terrorism." That official - which the legislation stipulates must be "full time" and carry no other responsibilities - would draw up budgets and strategies for securing and detecting materials around the world that could be used in weapons of mass destruction.

So the job is about the foreign non-proliferation work that we agree is a good idea.

Posted by Matt Weiner | June 24, 2008 7:42 AM