In 2004, then-deputy attorney general showed the backbone needed
for the job.   Strong convictions and the courage to back them
up are rare commodities in Washington. Putting your job on the
line, and saying no to the president of the United States, are
rarer still.  One such episode occurred during the Watergate
scandal's "Saturday Night Massacre," when Attorney General
Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William
Ruckelshaus resigned in protest rather than carry out President
Nixon's order to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox.  More
recently, in 2004, James Comey, then the deputy attorney general
filling in for a seriously ill Attorney General John Ashcroft,
showed similar backbone in a dramatic confrontation with two top
White House aides at Ashcroft's hospital bedside.  The incident
is worthy of a Hollywood script and could be a primer on how
principle can trump power. It suggests that Comey, nominated
Friday by President Obama to become director of the FBI, has the
right stuff for the job.