J's Cafe Nette

Archive for the ‘Attorney General’ Category

In more than one conversation as George W. Bush was wrapping up his tenure as President, there were those who expressed that perhaps he should offer a blanket pardon to himself and those in his administration, primarily those who were involved in any facet of the War on Terror.

Recognizing the character and conviction of the former president, it never entered my mind that he would do such a thing.

Mr. Bush had realized foreign policy decisions based on intelligence afforded by not only our, but other nation’s intelligence, and was guided by legal opinions offered by those in the Justice Department.

He obeyed his Oath of Office in his choice to protect this country from all enemies foreign and domestic, and made the most difficult decision any Commander In Chief must, to commit our men and women to war.

Many who initially supported Bush in these decisions became weak-kneed as it became politically expedient to do so, but to his credit, he never did.

Were there errors in judgment by the former President, members of his administration and military personnel in the execution of the war, yes. Did they work to correct those missteps? Yes.

Has there ever been throughout history, a perfect war, one which did not require a change if not a complete overhaul of strategy? If there had been, we would never have had to mourn the loss of one of our bravest.

Channeling back to the original thought of this post, the pardons, after reading this today, I admit that my thinking they would never be necessary may have been reckless:

And then there is the Center for Constitutional Rights, a Marxist organization that for years has coordinated legal representation for terrorists detained at Guantanamo Bay. The CCR has been attempting to convince Germany, France, Spain, and other countries to file war-crime indictments against former Bush administration officials, including President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and Secretary Rumsfeld. In representing America’s enemies, CCR has collaborated with many private lawyers, who also volunteered their services — several of whom are now working in the Obama Justice Department. Indeed, Holder’s former firm boasts that it still represents 16 Gitmo detainees (the number was previously higher). And, for help shaping detainee policy, Holder recently hired Jennifer Daskal for DOJ’s National Security Division — a lawyer from Human Rights Watch with no prior prosecutorial experience, whose main qualification seems to be the startling advocacy she has done for enemy combatants.

Put it all together and it’s really not that hard to figure out what is going on here.

Transnationalists from outside and, now, inside our government have been ardent supporters of prosecutions against American officials who designed and carried out the Bush counterterrorism policies that kept this country safe after 9/11. The U.N.’s top torture monitor is demanding legal action, almost certainly as a prelude to calling for action by an international tribunal — such as the ICC — if the Justice Department fails to indict. Meantime, law-enforcement authorities in Spain and elsewhere are weighing charges against the same U.S. officials, spurred on by the CCR and human-rights groups that now have friends in high American places. In foreign and international courts, the terrorist-friendly legal standards preferred by Europe and the U.N. would make convictions easier to obtain and civil suits easier to win.

Read the entire piece by Andrew McCarthy. It encompasses a great deal of research which lend credence to his conclusions. Should things play out in the fashion he describes, America would face devastating consequences at the hands of those doing nothing more than appeasing a small voting block which they must please in order to remain in power.

The Holder DOJ has proven they are willing to take on the CIA. Would or will they move to allow foreign nations to attempt to prosecute American citizens, including a former President and Vice President, for war crimes?

At one time I would have offered a resounding no! The top law enforcement official of our land would never sacrifice an American (to another nation) for political gain. Today, I’m not so certain, and that to me is a great tragedy.

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A while back there were several stories about this:

Some of the Guantanamo Bay prisoners could be released into the United States while others could be put on trial in the American court system, Attorney General Eric Holder said on Wednesday.

Yesterday, came this:

The State Department has made a decision to make an Iraqi translator, Jasim, wait another three years for a visa. One of the reasons that the denial was issued was that, Jasim, as part of the Kurdish Peshmerga, infiltrated Uday Hussein’s organization to steal data and then stole Uday’s car to escape. He was captured, tortured, and then released six years later when Saddam let all the prisoners go on the eve of the Invasion in 2003.

More on Jasim:

After the invasion, Jasim became a legendary translator, assisting above and beyond.
“I owe my life to Jasim … hands down,” said Master Sgt. Jason Krieger, who went on over 200 combat patrols with Jasim. “I consider him a brother, not only in arms, but in love as well.”

For six years, Jasim has put his life on the line to help our troops. His stepbrother paid the ultimate price for Jasim’s heroism.

Let’s get this straight. Terrorists are released on American soil and given access to our court system, but a man who has risked his life to assist our troops..well sorry, he’ll just have to wait to enjoy our freedoms.

There’s something very upsidedown about all of this, don’t you think?

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How about this for picture of the week?

Senator DeMint has shown great courage lately through his actions in the Senate. Calling for a vote on the Fairness Doctrine as early as next week would be another moment worth watching:

Sen. Jim DeMint announced that he will force a vote next week on a bill that prevents the Federal Communications Commission from reinstating the Fairness Doctrine.

The South Carolina Republican’s bill, the Broadcaster Freedom Act, is cosponsored by John Thune, R-S.D., and 27 others and will be offered as an amendment to the D.C. Voting Rights bill…

Let’s get it out in the open. America should see how each of their elected officials lean on this matter.

Cowards, huh? That’s a heck of a thing for a Attorney General of the United States to say.

Here is the best take down of Holder’s statement I have read to date.

If anyone can tie coffee, the courts and the porkfest legislation into one neat package it is Alfonzo Rachel..just watch:

Have a good weekend all. Hopefully by Monday this bug will have departed altogether. Maybe then this exhausting, exasperating monster will allow me to post something original and intelligent.

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Former federal judge Michael Mukasey was confirmed by the Senate late Thursday by a vote of 53-40.

After both sides predicted he would get 70 votes it’s a bit of a surprise to me that he got only 53 yes votes, but it was all to do with the fake outrage over waterboarding if it’s taking place.

Either way he’s our new Attorney General and has said he would resign if the president tried to enforce something that was not legal. That should make some people a little more happy with him. Otherwise they probably would have had Ted Olsen in the job.

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By a vote of 11-8 Michael Mukasey’s nomination for Attorney General has cleared the Judiciary Committee and is on its way to the floor of the Senate where head-counters on both sides say he has about 70 votes for confirmation.

Congratulations and thanks to Senators Feinstein and Schumer for crossing party lines to get this nomination to the full Senate.

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After the announcements by Senators Dianne Feinstein and Chuck Schumer that they would vote for him in committee, it appears his nomination will go before the full Senate where about 70 votes in favor will be cast for him.

Democratic Senators Charles Schumer of New York and Dianne Feinstein of California said Friday they will vote for Attorney General-nominee Michael Mukasey, which likely gives President Bush’s choice enough support to pass the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Schumer and Feinstein announced their decision shortly after the chairman of the committee, Vermong Democrat Patrick Leahy, announced he would vote against Mukasey, a former federal judge.

“This is an extremely difficult decision,” Schumer said in a statement, adding that Mukasey “is not my ideal choice.”

In announcing her support for Mukasey, Feinstein said “first and foremost, Michael Mukasey is not Alberto Gonzales,” referring to the former attorney general who resigned in September after months of questions about his honesty.

Including Leahy, five of the Judiciary Committee’s 10 Democrats had said they would vote against Mukasey’s confirmation after the nominee refused earlier in the week to say that waterboarding, an interrogation technique that simulates drowning, constitutes torture and therefore illegal.

But with nine Republicans on the panel, Schumer’s and Feinstein’s support for Mukasey virtually guarantees that a majority of the committee will recommend his confirmation when it votes next Tuesday.

I’ve come to have more respect for Feinstein in the past few months as she has done what she feels is right and not the political thing.

Maybe they just didn’t want an acting AG Ted Olson.

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While speaking at the Heritage Foundation on Thursday President Bush said if the Senate blocks the nomination of Michael Mukasey for AG no one would be able to meet the new standards set by the Senate.

“If the Senate Judiciary Committee were to block Judge Mukasey on these grounds, they would set a new standard for confirmation that could not be met by any responsible nominee for attorney general,” Bush said in a speech at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

“That would guarantee that America would have no attorney general during this time of war,” the president said.

The comment raised questions about whether Bush would nominate anyone else to succeed Alberto Gonzales as the nation’s top law enforcer. Bush could bypass Congress by filling the job with someone serving in an acting capacity over the last 14 months of his administration.

Asked whether Bush was saying he would not nominate anyone if Mukasey were to be rejected, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said, “We don’t believe it would come to that. No nominee could meet the test they’ve presented.”

He could make Ted Olsen Acting AG for the rest of his term. I wonder how the Senate Democrats would like that?

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., became the fourth of 10 Democrats on the 19-member committee to say he will vote against advancing the nomination to the full Senate.

It seems ironic to me that Ted Kennedy, of all people, would even speak out on the topic of waterboarding, which simulates drowning, given his previous history of not trying to rescue a woman who actually drowned.

No one in the government has said we do or do not participate in waterboarding, so the question seems foolish until the candidate is sworn in and actually finds out so he can give a legal opinion.

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