According to a report by the Associated Press, George W. Bush is going to announce today (on Constitution Day, coincidentally) that he has selected Michael B. Mukasey, a retired federal judge from New York, to replace Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General.
So I decided to do a little digging into Mukasey's background. First I learned that Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) had recommended Mukasey as a possible nominee for the Supreme Court, as well as for the AG gig. So maybe he's not so bad.
I also learned that Mukasey had heard the trial of Jose Padilla. He ruled that Padilla could be held as an enemy combatant (not so good), but that Padilla was entitled to see his lawyers (good).
Then I read an op-ed that Mukasey had written in the Wall Street Journal about the Padilla case. While dressed in all kinds of legalese, the piece made me uncomfortable. It seems that Mukasey was advocating for secret evidence and other restrictions on a defendant's Constitutional rights and civil liberties. Will he be another enabler of the Bush administration's policy in which national "security" trumps the rule of law?
Read the op-ed and decide for yourself: Jose Padilla Makes Bad Law
And remember the words of Benjamin Franklin: "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Thanks for the important info , Dailykos and others are blocking any vital info about Mukasey, and as you know,the media is not saying much,what a criminal shame! ,there must be a way for the American people to get the full story about this person so they can make up their own minds, the American way!...if Washington or Lincoln were here, there would be a national debate about having an organized religious person as A.G.,be an orthodox rabbi like Mukasey or a christian cardinal or a mahatma or a mullah, what an insult this all is to the USA Constitution,and today !!! thanks again for your info,extremely important !,you are a real patriot !
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