The President has nominated Michael Mukasey to replace Alberto Gonzales at Attorney General and the political in-fighting has begun ... but opposition to this appointment is coming from the right, not the left as is common.
A little background on Michael Mukasey first. He was nominated by President Reagan as a federal judge in 1987. Since that time he has served for 18 years (including 6 years as Chief Judge of the Southern District of New York). Among his cases that you may be familiar with are the trials of Omar Abdul Rahman (the blind shiek) and El Sayid Nosair. These terrorists were convicted for their parts in the planning of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and plots to bomb the United Nations and other New York landmarks. Judge Mukasey sentanced them to life in prison. He also ruled in the case of Jose Padilla (the American gang-banger that turned al-Qaeda) and ruled that he could be held as an enemy combatant, but that he must be given access to his lawyer. Mukasey also spoke and wrote in defense of the Patriot Act.
Here is what might be turning Republicans against him. In 2003, Sen Chuck Schummer (D-NY) included him in a list of 5 other judges that would have no problems being confirmed by Democrats. Rep Schummer also suggested him as a replacement for Gonzales on "Meet The Press" back in March. I think that Republican opposition to Mukasey is probably just a knee-jerk reaction to Shummer's support. Shummer has been a thorn in the GOP's side for so long that the thinking is probably if Chuck likes him, it must be bad.
From what I can see from the research I have done is that Michael Mukasey was a law and order type judge that issued his verdicts fairly and with common sense. We could do a lot worse than having Judge Mukasey as our 81st Attorney General (we already have).
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