Whew.

Now that that’s behind us, we can get back to the business of defending people. No, I’m not happy with the result, but I know that:

1. The planet will survive the next four years;

2. The human race will most likely survive the next four years;

3. The republic will probably survive the next four years; and

4. The consitution will likely survive the next four years.

Meanwhile, John Ashcroft is stepping down, and the administration didn’t have to turn over many rocks to find a replacement: White House counsel Albert Gonzalez who, when he was advising Bush while Bush was governor of Texas, never saw a retarded inmate who didn’t deserve to die. (Incidentally, 70% of Texans think Texas has put an innocent person to death, and 78% support the death penalty.) Gonzalez is an alumnus of Rice University. That appears to be the only thing he has going for him. Well, that, and he’s not technically anglo. We’ll see how he continues the war on brown people (euphemistically known as the “war on drugs”) prosecuted by his predecessors. So, enough wallowing in miserable anticipation of what the cryptofascist “neoconservatives” have in store for us. Back to court. People need me.