Matt Yglesias

Morals With Dianne Feinstein

Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean shot an unarmed man who was running away from them. That’s a crime. Indeed, it’s a serious crime. And, no, the fact that Ramos and Compean were Border Patrol agents and the unarmed man they shot in the back was a drug dealer doesn’t magically make it okay. But apparently George W. Bush thought they deserve clemency and Dianne Feinstein thinks two wrongs make a right:

Nor did the furor over the case break along neat liberal-conservative lines, as demonstrated by statements made in 2007 by Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat of California who is considered moderate to liberal. “It is true that the bullet left Aldrete-Davila permanently injured and that what the agents did was wrong,” the senator said. “But it is also true that Aldrete-Davila was not likely a low-level wrongdoer who got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

I don’t really understand what the relevance of these considerations are supposed to be. I take it that the federal maximum security prisons are filled with people who aren’t “low-level wrongdoer[s] who got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.” But still if you were to wade into such a prison and go on a killing spree, that wouldn’t be okay. It would be a big deal! Mass-murder! There’s no special rule where it’s okay to shoot at people as long as they’re “bad guys.”

Loose Lips

Apparently Dianne Feinstein’s not the only committee chair who didn’t get advance notification about who Barack Obama wanted to pick for key jobs. Also Barbara Boxer seems to think we were born yesterday:

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said Obama did not alert her before announcing two major environmental picks: Lisa Jackson, his nominee for Environmental Protection Agency administrator, and Carol Browner, the new climate change czar. Boxer leads the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

“Maybe it’s because he didn’t want a lot of people knowing his choices, didn’t want to leak things out,” Boxer said. “That could be. But I think the chair of a committee can be trusted.”

You can make the case that Obama did the wrong thing here, but I really don’t think it can be argued that he did the wrong thing from an information security perspective. Keeping congress in the loop would have meant more leaks. And of course Obama’s picks give every sign that they’ll sail through congress, with the apparent exception of Eric Holder whom conservatives want to embarrass themselves by trying to trip up.

Feinstein Goes Rogue

Not content with making trouble on the Leon Panetta front, Diane Feinstein’s decided to come out in favor of seating Roland Burris. On this issue, I’m much more sympathetic to her position, though given Burris’ behavior since Blago offered him the seat I can see why Senate Dems would rather have a more collegial colleague.

A Look Back

Dianne Feinstein doesn’t oppose all initiatives coming from newly elected presidents. Here, for example, is her statement in praise of George W. Bush’s 2001 tax cuts.