Every now and then the White House will pull a rabbit out of its hat and come up with absolute magic. Most of the country doesn’t know Mike Chertoff. And I have to admit that, given his current job, I never would have thought about him for DHS Secretary. But he is an absolutely incredible choice. Currently a federal appeals court judge, Mike has a background as a hard nosed prosecutor and former head of the Criminal Division at the U.S. Department of Justice. He is tough, absolutely brilliant and fair. More importantly, he’s got great experience in the current war on terror. And he understands what it takes. With the able assistance of people like Alice Fisher, then his deputy at DoJ, Mike was on the front lines of coordinating the government’s investigation into the attacks of September 11th. An exquisite choice by the President. He will be terrific.