Stewart Baker

the President's recent nomination of Stewart Baker to assistant secretary for policy in the Homeland Security Department initially shocked me, but it isn't really so surprising once you think about it.  A veteran of most of the privacy debates in DC, my sense is he's fairly openminded for someone who was once general counsel of the national security agency.  Which is to say I mostly disagree with his positions on privacy issues, but I've found him to be thoughtful about the issues, rather than dogmatic as I've come to expect Bush appointments to be. So I'm going to disagree with what my former boss Marc Rotenberg said and be optimistic about this.  (with all the caveat's that apply to my endorsement of Gonzales for the Bench).  After drinking cocktails with us for so many years, it's hard to imagine he'll adopt a closed door approach to the privacy community.  And having someone in that position who will listen, and is a veteran of the privacy debates (particularly crypto) should be a good thing.