Letters to the Editor
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In the future, the word "Byzantine"....
...will be replaced by the word "Washingtonian."
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A question of qualifications
Upholding and defending the Constitution is the central purpose of any high office, especially Attorney General, as the oath of office affirms. If Mukasey can't determine that a torture technique older than history isn't Constitutional then he clearly doesn't have what it takes to fulfill the duties of the office. We need to start holding nominees to the basic qualifications needed for the job, the most central of which is an ability and willingness to comply with their oath.
The question now is what will the Senate do? If we keep getting more of the same from the nominee, then the correct thing to do would be to reject him, with a promise to reject any and all nominees who follow the same line. Let the office remain vacant until someone who is qualified is nominated.
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Submission to corrupt authority
Submission to corrupt authority is what those who have no integrity, honor, shame or conscience want and that is what they will submit as qualified candidates for the position.
The next time, perhpas they will pick a better liar who will be approved and do exactly what they desire of him, give them free license to do as they have been doing.
No one will hold these people accountable, that is how low the nation has sunk.
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Congress
Today on NPR, I heard Nancy Pelosi energetically defending the Congress, saying that the had accomplished lots of things (she gave a list), but that the Iraq war trumps everything in the mind of the voters. I don't know if they have accomplished what she says, but the Military Commissions Act, The Kyl-Lieberman whatever, and Mukasey do indicate whether COmgress succeeds or fails. This is their last chance. If they let Mukasey through, they will have nothing left to cover their shame.
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"If the President does it..."
When Richard Nixon famously said: “If the President does it, that means it is not illegal” we knew that his fate was sealed. He believed that he was above the law. Most of us held our breath (and our noses) at the hubris of his statement. We are a nation of laws, not of men. The holy right of kings, "A deo rex, a rege lex", was everything that we fought a revolution to throw off. If Michael Mukasey, or any person, believes that his duty as Attorney General is to protect and defend the President rather than the Constitution he has demonstrated his unwillingness to perform the job and must not be allowed to take that office.
The Democrats, as well as every Republican of conscience must not allow this man to become Attorney General. To do so spits in the face of those who gave their lives and risked their freedom to found this nation.
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Mukasey now a political hack
This article is an excellent review of how we got here. The neocons and 9/11 whores need a veneer of legality to perpetuate their crimes. Mukasey now proves himself to be a willing hack, like the five political hacks on the Supreme Court who installed this monster, Bush, as president. Good to recall the role of Casey as a founder of the GOP crime syndicate. Wasn't he also a director of the ABC network? Nothing like a little network propaganda to dupe the public into supporting these jackals.
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@Farmer John
William Casey had many beefs with ABC. He didn't care for their reporting. He intended to change that, through whatever means he could muster. I think perhaps you should research Casey's role with Cap Cities for a more thorough view on this.
Just saying...
Personally, I think ABC News does a pretty good job, all things considered.
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What did you expect?
You think Bush is going to appoint an AG that MIGHT cause him grief?
If Bush is smart (or more likely gets smart advice) he'll leave the DOJ a shambles til he's out of town.
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These guys are not conservatives, even if that is the label they give their dictatorial radicalism.
Blumental writes: “While Mukasey espouses conservative views upholding an expansive interpretation of the executive . . . .”
One of the problems with the current radicals who call themselves conservatives is that the views they espouse are the exact opposite of principled conservative views. True conservatives have always been particularly suspicious of excessive executive power.
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Sterling commentary
Once again, Sidney hits the ground running with an excellent analysis of why Muaksey CANNOT be AG...what I would like to see is David Addington dragged before Congress to discuss memos on torture and the lot. He needs to be put on war criminal charges like Bush, Cheney, Rummy, Alberto, John Yoo, and Condi.
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not interested...
... in hearing about these scumbags anymore unless it's a story about how someone has pushed their heads under water until their expensive lunches come out of their noses.
They don't act to protect us. They just want to advance their own parochial agenda in the name of protecting us.
Have a good swim!
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Can you say...Recess Appointment?
And why not - Bush long ago gave up any pretense that he has the slightest respect for the process of congressional approval. Christmas is coming and I expect we'll all find Mukasey in our stockings.
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As long as we are making ties to Iran Contra...
John Negroponte was the ambassador to Honduras at the time of the Iran Contra scandal. We ran the contras out of Honduras. Negroponte was "our man" down there.
Since then baby bush as appointed him:
U.S. ambassador to the United Nations
United States Ambassador to Iraq
Director of National Intelligence
and is currently United States Deputy Secretary of State
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Time for new language...and a new civics?
Sidney Blumenthal writes:
While Mukasey espouses conservative views upholding an expansive interpretation of the executive, and argues that warrantless domestic surveillance is therefore justified...
Really? Is that what Real Conservativism is? In spite of the facts, i.e. people who are nominally "conservatives" who put forward overly authoritarian, totalitarian interpretations of the American Way, I think that THAT is NOT really "conservative"... It's a radicalized position headed towards, if not already arrived at an American Fascism.
If so called "conservatives" are hiding their radical, activist positions and machinations under the "Conservative" rubric, I think that it's time to stop being polite and use some more accurate and descriptive language to expose them for what they actually are... How else do you deal with liars, cheats, thiefs and murderers?
To continue to allow radicalized activist "neo-cons" to lay claim to the title "Conservative" with it's powerful, positive connotations (and don't kid yourself, they ARE powerful as well as positive to many if not most fellow citizens) is to be played by the proto-facists masquerading as "Conservatives" and to have lost the language game before you've started to play.
Naming and definition is half the battle...The pen is greater than the sword. Use your words...But use them better and better.
I know that immoderate use of language is easily dismissed or perhaps worse, turned on us... But that shouldn't back us into the corner of polite, ambiguous and ineffective wordings either. It's a very hard high-wire act that Mr. Blumenthal does very well...I always look forward to his pieces. It's just that this morning I saw it a different way and wondered if the "high road" really works. Is our democracy strong enough to weather this crisis? Or is the threat overwhelming?
What more can we do to strengthen the bonds of community and fend off inimacable principals and forces? Defense of our Constitution and the Nation it allows is much too important and vital a task to simply leave to the current occupant of the White House. Perhaps we should each and every one of us make a promise, take a solemn oath to "Protect the Constitution" and "Serve the Nation"... in our own, humble ways the best we can, no?
Is it time for a new Civility and a renewed American Civics?