CREEPING THEOCRACY:

A rabbi’s son with sense of balance nominated to head Homeland Security (Ron Kampeas, 1/11/05, JTA News)

Michael Chertoff, the Jewish judge President Bush nominated this week to head the vast Homeland Security bureaucracy, brings a rabbi’s son’s sensibility to resolving the tensions between protecting Americans and preserving civil liberties.

Bush made clear in his announcement Tuesday that he found Chertoff attractive because of his toughness and his sterling reputation.

But Jewish community leaders who know him say the judge would bring much more than that to the position.

“I can’t sing his praises high enough,” said attorney Stephen Flatow, who says Chertoff was instrumental in drafting the USA Patriot Act, which led to the U.S. indictment of a Florida-based alleged leader of Islamic Jihad, which claimed responsibility for the 1995 murder of Flatow’s daughter Alisa in a Gaza Strip terrorist attack.

Chertoff, 51, would be Bush’s second Cabinet-level Jewish appointment; Josh Bolten has run the Office of Management and Budget since 2003.

All part of the President's secret plan to make Judaism the Established religion of the United States, right?

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 14, 2005 10:28 AM