(2007-09-16) — President George Bush said his nominee for attorney general, retired federal judge Michael Mukasey — praised by legal scholars and Republicans alike as ‘confirmable’ — will lead the Justice Department to fight crime that’s ‘beatable’.
The president had reportedly considered appointing former solicitor general Theodore B. Olson, but backed off when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid vowed to block confirmation of the man who represented Mr. Bush in the Supreme Court fight over the 2000 presidential election. Insiders say the administration sought to avoid a fight with Senate Democrats by picking Mr. Mukasey, who’s likely to garner support from fellow New Yorker, Sen. Charles Schumer.
Mr. Bush said Mr. Mukasey won’t “waste time and money fighting difficult crimes, or prosecuting tenacious criminals.”
“I want Attorney General Mukasey to focus on the low-hanging fruit,” the president said of the nation’s leading confirmable conservative jurist. “It’s better to put a petty criminal in jail, than to put a lot of effort into catching a big-time crook who may wind up getting off the hook anyway.”
15 responses so far ↓
1 JamesonLewis3rd // Sep 16, 2007 at 7:30 pm
God Bless America
2 Fred Sinclair // Sep 16, 2007 at 7:47 pm
I guess that means that we shouldn’t be fighting a war that’s not only unwinnable but according to Nevada’s Senator Harry Reid, (the Senates NODWIC ) one that we’ve already lost.
Heirborn Ranger
3 Fred Sinclair // Sep 16, 2007 at 7:50 pm
NODWIC = Number One Dude What’s In Charge
Heirborn Ranger
4 da Bunny // Sep 16, 2007 at 8:30 pm
Well, as long as he can pass “Senator Schemer’s” litmus test…**sigh**
5 Ms RightWing, Ink // Sep 16, 2007 at 8:51 pm
Nothing like that old “least path of resistance.”
6 conserve-a-tips // Sep 16, 2007 at 9:01 pm
OK. So he’s ‘confirmable’ and ‘win-able’ and interested in the ‘beatable’, but is he ‘palatable’ to the rest of us???? If Chuckie Schemer likes him, I’m not sure that I will be able to stomach him.
7 Darthmeister // Sep 16, 2007 at 9:39 pm
President Bush should appoint sHrillary as the new Attorney General since she has personal experience in coverups and crimes in the financial investment sectors.
8 conserve-a-tips // Sep 16, 2007 at 10:01 pm
Darthmeister - oo-oo! He should appoint Teddy Kennedy since he actually knows what it means to do the crime but not the time. Or no! How about John Edwards. He wouldn’t need to hire any psychics to solve anything - he already is one. He talks to dead babies.
Speaking of babies. Funniest cartoon in the paper today. Petraeus is at a desk putting baby powder and a diaper on the bottom of a crying baby, while little kids are hanging all over him and around him, blowing bubbles, sticking their tongues out at each other, bonking each other over the head, squalling, etc. Petraeus says, “I can’t wait to get back to Iraq.” The sign on the door says, “Congress”.
9 debass // Sep 16, 2007 at 10:26 pm
Arrest the victims. They already have a proven track record of not standing up for themselves and are easy prey for the justice dept. with their demonstrated willingness to be abused. They are much easier to prosecute. They don’t have resources to mount an adequate legal defense either from being robbed or having spent thousands on medical bills. This has proven to be a very successful tactic of our local law enforcement. It should work well at the Federal level also.
10 The Great Santini // Sep 16, 2007 at 11:40 pm
Bush43 should have raisded his middle digit to Reid’s Band of Senate Thugs and recess-appointed Olson. What…his polls will go down? Instead, he blinks, kowtows, and appoints a caretaker who won’t make waves.
Sounds pretty Mucousy to me.
11 The Great Santini // Sep 16, 2007 at 11:41 pm
That’s “raised” his middle digit, not “raisded” it. Sheesh.
12 camojack // Sep 16, 2007 at 11:46 pm
“Let’s get Mikey!”
He won’t do it, he hates everything.”
Heh, heh…
13 onlineanalyst // Sep 17, 2007 at 6:20 am
Aw, you guys used all of the good lines. Funny!
While I would have preferred Olson, Mukasey may not be a bad pick at all. He may, in fact, be a stealth choice that beat the Dems in their partisan game. Andy McCarthy of NRO considers Mukasey a strong supporter of the Bush Administration’s policy in issues regarding security, the Patriot Act, and surveillance of terrorists. Kristol of The Weekly Standard does not find Mukasey objectionable.
Rudy Guiliani has both men on his judiciary advisory committee. In fact, the people’s mayor has quite a strong lineup of Constitutional supporters there. (Scuttlebut has it that Rudy would appoint Olson as his AG.)
Seriously, folks, already Chuckie is backpedaling on his rah-rah for Mukasey. Hmmm… The New Yawk senator may have “misunderestimated” the “stratergery” behind this nomination because of his own smug pride. Check out the link and a prior one on the selection of Mukasey. There are some compelling arguments for this choice.
Given the makeup of the Dems on the Judiciary Committee (Barf!), an Olson nomination would have never made it out of committee for a Senate confirmation. Besides, one can surmise that Chuckie was protecting the junior senator from New York’s hind flanks by preemtively rejecting Olson, whose wife wrote some accurately critical books about her highness. For Hillary, payback is a bee-yotch; revenge is her middle name.
14 Liberty Pundit // Sep 17, 2007 at 6:47 am
Bush Set To Nominate New Attorney General…
According to the A.P., he’s nominating Michael B. Mukasey:
President Bush has settled on Micha…
……
15 Stop The ACLU » Blog Archive » Bush Picks Michael B. Mukasey For Next Attorney General // Sep 17, 2007 at 9:45 am
[…] see: QandO Liberty Pundit Scrappleface Unpartisan.com Political News and Blog Aggregator linked with Gonzales, Snow bid government […]
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