The New Attorney General
All of the major newspapers have included articles and editorials about Judge Michael B. Mukasey, President Bush's nominee for Attorney General. The tenor of nearly all of the articles suggests that Judge Mukasey is an independent sort, just the corrective needed in the Justice Department. The obvious implication is that he should be confirmed. Apparently the White House fax machine has been very busy.
Something in the article in the Los Angeles Times, however, set off some alarms for me. Oh, the article contains the same blathering about the nominee's independent streak and his honest conservatism, such as the following:
...if confirmed as attorney general, his independent streak could pose problems for President Bush.
With his reputation already well established and a gig at the Justice Department likely to last no more than a year or so, Mukasey, at 66, has little to lose. As a result, observers expect him to view his role much differently than did his predecessor, former Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales, who developed a reputation as a loyal advocate for administration legal positions and policies.
Although he would be in the Bush cabinet and expected to be part of the team, those who know him say he would not hesitate to bring his considerable legal heft to bear if he believed Bush was not following the law. This could cause Bush some uncomfortable moments, especially in dealing with Congress in the ongoing probes of the Justice Department and White House. [Emphasis added]
All well and good, I suppose, but I really want more than the president feeling a little uncomfortable, and therein lies the rub. Judge Mukasey has already shown how he feels on issues other than the current Justice Department investigation.
To be sure, Mukasey seems to be like-minded on many issues that Bush cares about. He is a relative hawk on national security matters, and has supported aggressive measures in the war on terror. He approved the rounding up of scores of illegal immigrants after the Sept. 11 attacks with a controversial form of warrant that allowed their incarceration because they may have been witnesses to crimes. He has defended the USA Patriot Act, and derided some of its major critics, including librarians who have said the law threatened 1st Amendment rights of citizens. [Emphasis added]
While Sen. Leahy has indicated that the confirmation hearings won't start until his committee has certain necessary White House documents relating to the current Justice Department investigation so that Judge Mukasey can be questioned on the whole issue, the committee needs to delve into more than the nominee's feelings on the politicization of that department. We need to know if he is going to be another point man when it comes to the Bush administration's trashing of the Constitution.
If he is going to be just another lackey, then his nomination should go nowhere.
Something in the article in the Los Angeles Times, however, set off some alarms for me. Oh, the article contains the same blathering about the nominee's independent streak and his honest conservatism, such as the following:
...if confirmed as attorney general, his independent streak could pose problems for President Bush.
With his reputation already well established and a gig at the Justice Department likely to last no more than a year or so, Mukasey, at 66, has little to lose. As a result, observers expect him to view his role much differently than did his predecessor, former Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales, who developed a reputation as a loyal advocate for administration legal positions and policies.
Although he would be in the Bush cabinet and expected to be part of the team, those who know him say he would not hesitate to bring his considerable legal heft to bear if he believed Bush was not following the law. This could cause Bush some uncomfortable moments, especially in dealing with Congress in the ongoing probes of the Justice Department and White House. [Emphasis added]
All well and good, I suppose, but I really want more than the president feeling a little uncomfortable, and therein lies the rub. Judge Mukasey has already shown how he feels on issues other than the current Justice Department investigation.
To be sure, Mukasey seems to be like-minded on many issues that Bush cares about. He is a relative hawk on national security matters, and has supported aggressive measures in the war on terror. He approved the rounding up of scores of illegal immigrants after the Sept. 11 attacks with a controversial form of warrant that allowed their incarceration because they may have been witnesses to crimes. He has defended the USA Patriot Act, and derided some of its major critics, including librarians who have said the law threatened 1st Amendment rights of citizens. [Emphasis added]
While Sen. Leahy has indicated that the confirmation hearings won't start until his committee has certain necessary White House documents relating to the current Justice Department investigation so that Judge Mukasey can be questioned on the whole issue, the committee needs to delve into more than the nominee's feelings on the politicization of that department. We need to know if he is going to be another point man when it comes to the Bush administration's trashing of the Constitution.
If he is going to be just another lackey, then his nomination should go nowhere.
Labels: Justice Department
posted by Diane at 3:51 AM
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