Soft bigotry of low expectations

Kevin got to this before I had a chance to, but U.S. News & World Report is passing along whispers that Michael Chertoff will replace Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General.

If this is true (and for some reason I wouldn't put money on it) then it means a couple of things. First, it means that the new Attorney General will be a vast improvement on the old Attorney General. (As a general guideline, if anybody ever tells you you'd be better at __________ than Alberto Gonzales, you ought to be deeply offended, and perhaps respond with violence.)

But more importantly, if Chertoff replaces Gonzales, then, of course, the Department of Homeland Security will need a replacement secretary of its own. And we can be quite sure at this point that the president will either nominate one of the few remaining Friends of George left in town (who will run DHS into the ground), or he'll nominated somebody with a modest reputation for competence and then neuter him as soon as he takes the smallest hint of initiative.