I'm a little surprised to hear from my colleagues across the way who seem to put a lot of faith in the judiciary when it suits their needs, that the selection of a judge to serve as the commissioner is somehow going to put somebody in a conflict of interest, that a judge who can't seem to sort him or herself out would be in some sort of conflict of interest.
Keep in mind that somebody who is called upon can simply refuse if they want to not serve as the commissioner. They don't have to get hauled off the bench against their will to come and serve as the commissioner. This would be somebody who would obviously want the job, and this is a full-time job. I don't see why we would exclude or limit the pool of candidates for something as important as national security by not accepting either this amendment or the amendment that's been proposed by our party, which is going to be very similar in nature.
I'm sorry, I have much respect for Mr. Spengemann, but I'm just not buying the argument.