Who’s Michael Mukasey?
12:00pm Eastern. From Sen. John Cornyn’s office…
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made the following statement Monday regarding the nomination of Judge Michael Mukasey to serve as Attorney General of the United States:
“In recent months, my Democratic colleagues have loudly voiced their belief that partisan politics has no place at the Department of Justice. With today’s nomination and forthcoming confirmation process of Judge Mukasey, they will have an opportunity to demonstrate that.
“I am examining Judge Mukasey’s record and will continue to do so in the days ahead. But early indications are that he is a respected, experienced jurist who has a strong reputation for honesty and integrity. He deserves a fair and prompt hearing by the Senate.”
***
President Bush is introducing his attorney general nominee in just a few minutes. Update: Bush urges lawmakers to approve Mukasey “quickly.”
He’s got some worrisome left-wing supporters (or rather, non-opposers), including Charles Schumer and Nan Aron. Here’s the always candid Mark Levin’s take:
There was a candidate who was both a top legal mind and well-established conservative with years of experience at the Justice Department, and his name is Ted Olson. He was passed over for apparently practical and political reasons, including the fact that Schumer and Aron would oppose him (not to mention Reid). So, I am not prepared to delude myself into believing that Mukasey was the best choice. He may be acceptable, but that’s different.
He’s characterized as a “consensus” nominee. And a “safe bet.”
Time magazine: “How Bush’s AG Pick Irritates the Right.”
Argh:
If the administration was trying to avoid a fight with the left over the confirmation of Alberto Gonzales’ replacement as Attorney General, they may have succeeded with the nomination of former New York district judge, Michael Mukasey. The question now is whether they’ll have a fight with the right. Both in Mukasey himself, and in the process by which he picked him, Bush has gone against the right, spurning their favored choice, engaging with — and conceding to — Democrats, and naming a New Yorker who is an unknown quantity on many of the social issues about which they care most deeply.
Through weeks of quiet deliberation, Bush abandoned the confrontational pronouncements to which Congress has grown accustomed. Instead, White House counsel Fred Fielding reached out to Democrats, including Bush’s constant opponent Senator Charles Schumer of New York, who had previously recommended Mukasey as a Supreme Court nominee. Schumer and Fielding went so far as to discuss names, and Mukasey’s came up. “We’re in an alternate universe,” says one Senate aide, “Charles Schumer saying something nice about a guy used to be the kiss of death.”
The administration also adopted the Clinton-like process of trial ballooning: leaking names through allies to see how much of a storm would ensue. For the better part of last week, the name of conservative darling and respected lawyer, former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson, was on everyone’s lips in Washington. But strong pushback from Democrats, including Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, who said he’d torpedo an Olson nomination, apparently sank his chances. “Olson would’ve been a bloodbath,” says the Senate aide.
But in dropping Olson and going with Mukasey, Bush has opened himself up to attack from the right. Conservatives are worried about Mukasey’s 1994 denial of asylum for a Chinese man who said his wife had been forced to have an abortion under that country’s one-child law, which they say indicates he’s weak on pro-life issues. And though he has consistently ruled with the administration on a number of important and high-profile terrorism cases, Mukasey broke with them in an early, crucial ruling, saying that American citizen Jose Padilla had a right to a lawyer, no matter what his status in the war on terror. [MM: The asylum denial doesn't bother me on its face. The Padilla ruling does.] Mukasey is also very close to former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, whom social conservatives distrust.
Ragnar at The Jawa Report asks if we’re about to see the Second Coming of Harriet Miers.
Allah shares what he knows and calls this a “good pick.” I hope so.
See what others have said
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Trackbacks
- Sister Toldjah
- Stop The ACLU » Blog Archive » Bush Picks Michael B. Mukasey For Next Attorney General
- Why not Ted Olsen : 186 kpersecond
- Liberty Pundit
- Old War Dogs
- Michelle Malkin » The Mukasey confirmation hearings
- Michelle Malkin » The Mukasey nomination in jeopardy: Why appeasing Democrats gets you nowhere
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Well,at the risk of sounding like a pragmatist,ANYBODY will be an improvement over Gonzalez…if only because he won’t make the DoJ look like a non stop circus
I am willing to listen to what the appointee has to say during his confirmation hearings.
He’s a Guiliani advisor — Good way to see those Conservative judges Guiliani says he will appoint.
From my limited exposure to comments about this guy - it sounds like he’s solidly conservative and legally fair-minded.
I’m willing to give the benefit of the doubt until I hear something to give me pause about it.
I’m with zigy and jrl, lets hear him out.
Bring him on and let’s see how he holds up to the schumers and leahy’s. Baptisim by fire before we decide. I’m okay with that.
Anyone with any ties to Schumer or from the Southern District of New York is not okay in my book. Schumer already has control over the Justice Department. Can you say Comey?
Don’t you mean Catholics and Evangelicals are worried?
Lets hear the guy out,why give the Dems and the MSM more TV face time to spew vile things about another presidential pick like Olsen.They are going to bash and crapola on anything the President does or says anyway so I dont blame him for this pick.
I’ve got nothing against “hearing a guy out”. On the other hand, why in the world is it that the Republicans are ALWAYS the party that has to compromise on these types of selections? And I do mean ALWAYS. If we don’t start making an issue of ALL appointments - no matter the timing or the office or anything else, then frankly it isn’t going to matter who we elect. This is the reason the liberals rule Washington no matter who is the majority party! They are so embedded in places like State, CIA, the treasury - you name it - the average federal government employee is by and large both Democrat and Liberal.
Nothing is really going to change until Republicans and Conservatives stand up and say “No more! These are the people who most accurately reflect the values we believe in, and we think the majority of Americans believe in, that we are willing to fight for them tooth and nail to the bitter end.” And once they are in office, we have to start demanding that they take a broad broom and sweep the place clean from top to bottom. The reason the Democrats rule is because they are not afraid to do that very thing. And they do it quite well. And have for a long time.
It’s time for “political expediency” to take a long walk off a short pier. It’s time to stand up for what is good and right about this country and to tell the likes of Chuck Schumer, Harry Reid, and the rest of the bunch that get their marching orders from MoveOn to do just that - move on.
Otherwise, we have nobody to blame but ourselves as we watch the deconstruction of the greatest nation this planet has ever seen.
As a Conservative, I’m constantly disappointed by the GWB administration, so nothing new here…
Green Bay:
You’re right about him being a pretty solid conservative. Plus from his record as a judge, he seems to be a rock on the issue of terrorism.
But on the other hand, he was recommended to the bench by liberal Senator Moynihan back when he was nominated for the district court. And he’s out of Rudy’s office.
My guess is he’ll be solid on terrorism but disappoint many on social issues.
Vanilla pudding if Schumer and other vampires think he is ok. Any time they don’t raise a stink, figure they have something on the guy and will confirm him knowing they have the ace up their sleeve. Putrifying ilk all of those leftoids.
Once again, BUSH panders to the liberals. What a guy - huh.
Ted Olsen would have been an exeptional AG! Since his wife was a victim of 9/11 I would think he’d be TOUGH on terror related issues!
While Bush continues to pander, the left is taking OVER our country.