Impeach Mukasey -- or for God's sake, at least throw the punch

As I recall from my days of youthful delinquencies, when you're eyeball to eyeball with a nasty neighborhood troll, and you know beyond any reasonable doubt that he's about to rudely inflict some dominance, the most judicious thing you can do is to coldcock the s.o.b., then stand over his bleeding proboscis and crumpled frame and let him know that that was just a warning. In short, you must first get the menacing thug's attention. And reason won't work. Not as a first option.

I offer this experiential advice to the various chairs and ranking members of Congressional oversight committees who are now eyeball to eyeball with the newest Bushie troll on the block, Attorney General Michael Mukasey. You had best coldcock him now, while you have the chance. And that means moving to impeach his sexagenarian ass -- to get his attention, if nothing else.

It didn't take Mr. Mukasey long to establish that he's right out of the Gonzales mold of executive power über alles. Surely this does not come as a surprise. After all, during his confirmation hearings he sat and cagily testified to his jurisprudential crush on presidential Iron Men, suggesting that the courts and Congress were but mere Constitutional appendages and afterthoughts when it comes to interpreting the law. They're cute, but what really gets his blood flowing where it counts is that big lug of an insensitive brute in the Oval Office.

Gentlemen, you can't reason with thinking like that. Not as a first option, anyway. So when Mr. Mukasey writes you boys slimy letters dripping with obstruction of justice -- letters declaring that his "department would not comply with Congressional requests for information [on the CIA videotape-destruction scandal]" -- then you had better come out swinging. Hard.

When he writes insultingly to the Senate Judiciary Committee that his virtuous goal is to "resist political pressure," therefore he "will not at this time provide further information," then you had better throw your best punch. Fast.

And when, through henchmen, he writes to House Intelligence Committee leaders that their prying poses "significant risks" to his own investigation -- meaning the House might uncover something of anti-administration value in a timely manner -- then you had better deck him. Flat.

Even Republican ranking members aren't happy about Gonzales' Second Coming. "We," penned Republican Peter Hoekstra, for example, along with House Intelligence Chairman Silvestre Reyes -- "are stunned that the Justice Department would move to block our investigation." They added, somewhat pathetically, that "parallel investigations occur all of the time, and there is no basis upon which the Attorney General can stand in the way of our work."

Actually, there is. Yet the insidious "basis" upon which the attorney general is stiffing them is one that, at long last, should be brutally confronted.

The exercise of contemporary executive-privilege assertions began innocently and nobly enough. Its origins lie in the 1950s, when that slimeball of a senator Joseph McCarthy was snooping anywhere and everywhere, witchhunting for slippery commies. He chewed up executive-branch personnel for kicks, abusing the hell out of them before his committee and demanding their papers on whims. President Eisenhower finally declared that enough was enough. He instructed his attorney general to find some legal justification -- however creative -- to put a stop to it. His a.g. did, and to a stop, it came -- along with McCarthy's career.

But, like all presidential powers left unfettered, the one of executive privilege has grown monstrously over the decades. It is now used, quite simply and blatantly, to obstruct justice -- to crush even incipient Congressional efforts in its proper Constitutional role of investigation and oversight. And Republicans under the Bush administration are getting as worried about it as Democrats. They smell a Democratic president in a year, and envision the same presidential tactics used against -- at some possible point -- a Republican-led Congress.

Hence rolling back the privilege is, for now, of keen bipartisan interest. But given that we're talking the abominably thuggish Bush administration, Congress would have to coldcock it. A bill to impeach the attorney general for obstruction of justice would be a nice touch -- one that could engender bipartisan support, and one that just might get the administration's attention.

Now, would Democrats commit such an intelligent act of self-defense -- even given a push from the notably meekless across the aisle? Ah, there's the rub.

Comments

[Dianne Foster]

I am so wondering if the Congress are taking a page from I, Claudius: "Let all the rot in the muddy log hatch out." Quite frankly, we can do better than the stammering emperor of the storybook. Let's remember that as was not the case with him, we still have the Republic, but not for long.

[Rusticus - NYC]

This commentary hits it right on the head...and I wish the Democrats would do the same to the current administration!
It has been very, very hard to watch the horror show of the Bush administration, from before day one, shred the Constitution, and the principles of our country.
When corporations rule the political system, this is the government that we get.
Well done PM. I hope any progressives band together and start giving Bush some hell!

[Quedo]

Excellent piece, thanks.

Also, please notice that the current news story about destroyed interrogation videos of Abu Zubaydah is about more even than torture, for not only were the videos destroyed but no transcripts were made of his interrogation. And why is that significant? Because Abu Zubaydah gave the US its main info on the 9/11 attacks. And that means that our whole "war on terror" is based on unrecorded torture sessions. Just given that one fact, how can any rational person not question the official story of 9/11 and, truthfully, everything else this administration has done?

[JB Campbell]

Nice piece, except for the lies about Joe McCarthy. "Snooping" was his job. The "slippery Commies" he was after had already condemned millions of friendly people to die from Communist murder and slavery. Those "slippery Commies" somehow got FDR to sign the Yalta Agreement, and Truman the Potsdam Agreement, which also gave us Communist China.

Eisenhower finally declared enough was enough? You mean the guy who ordered a million German POWs to be starved to death after the war? The guy who destroyed 13 million German civilians after the war? That guy? The guy who saved Stalin's dictatorhip, who had Stalin's photo on his desk? He thought enough was enough?

Let's hear about one lie that McCarthy told, one innocent person that he went after. People who attack Joe McCarthy are usually the slimeballs.

[beamer]

oh yeah,McCarthy was a true blue American hero-NOT...from what revisionist hole didja crawl JB ?
and from what book of lies do you hawk-up and spit the nonsense about Eisenhower and FDR ?..slippery commies indeed !..go drowned a pinko kitten

[ronbon]

Who the hell is this moron....oops, IDIOT, JBCampbell?

I just happen to be a WWII veteran and I have NO IDEA what rock this person crawled out from under. Joe McCarthy was a filthy, liar, bully and disgrace to our country. The pre-eminent newsman of the 20th Century, Edward R. Murrow, went toe-to-toe with that toad, and documented beyond any doubt the misdeeds and lies.

I suspect that Campbell may have an IQ and chronological age which are identical, somewhere in the 20-30 range. My God, what a crop of CRAP we have raised!

[Rasputin]

This guy is a protege of Schumer and Feinstein. That means that Hillary will support him too and with her most of the Dems.
The Reps we know that they will say amen to whoever protect all the crimes commited by Georgie and Dickie.
The results: Mukass won't be challenge and the torture methods will go on.

[Bion]

Well, ronbon, Harry Dexter White and Alger Hiss were both communist agents. And I doubt you were a WW2 vet, too. But your ad hominem attacks certainly do support your argument wonderfully.

[oscarmadison]

congress will do nothing to oust anybody
und you vill like it

impeach i guy they just fucking confirmed? get a grip soldier before i slap all of you

g. patton

[chabuka]

Maybe Shcumer, Di-Fi, Pelosi, Reid and a few of those idiot turds should also be impeached, thrown out, recalled...seems like they were told this would happen...Mukasey said he was a Bushie..he said the President was above the law....didn't Schumer and D-Fi hear that? I did and I wasn't at the damn hearing!!

[ras]

Ha ha ha...nonsense abounds.

After the fiasco of the 2000 election, we've had nothing but 7 years of crybaby rhetoric. If the GOP could get away with the 2000 crimes, they can get away with anything ~ and they have ~ and they will... Bush Inc. will slide into the political sunset only to have their minions of Corporate America carry on. Fox, Freepers, and the religious factions will continue to hound our Republic until we have our own civil war?

With a Hollywood mass producing brain dead movies, weak and spoiled Americans are enjoying a mind-numbing fix. Who cares anymore?

Got Viagra?

All the bs about liberal, left wing, right wing, conservatives, etc., is what Corporate America wants everyone to believe. There are only two types of people ~ good and bad. Where are we headed? What is next? When do we get a bar code or a chip placed on our bodies describing who and what we are? Step right up! The time is now!

America ~ going nowhere on a dead end street. Get your children to enjoy rice ~ because Americhina's future will depend on it.

[angeloR]

Oh come on, you know this is Jewish thing. Born again red necks and Zionist Jew like Mukasey are hell bend on killing, torturing, tormenting, locking up as many muslims and Arabs as they can.

Christians used to get their rocks off by just persecuting blacks - but that just ain't done anymore. And of course Jews weren't even "white" in the day...but they sure are white now! And doing a hell of a job I might add.

[DOGISMYTH]

The Dems will not have the fortitude to deal with this issue, like everything else. No shit....hell yes we should be lashing out at this kind of "bullying" and outright refusal to comply with Congress. Its amazing that we can sit and watch this shit going on, and no one in power has the balls to do something about it. Just freaking amazing. Its over folks, that's all I can say!!

PS - Off topic, be wary of MoveOn's intentions. They have a petition on-line that states you will support Gore's position of global warming, and joining the new consortium of countries to set carbon limits. This means only one thing...more taxes on everything we use (remember, over 50% of our goods come from oil). Just another ploy to siphon billions away from those who need it most.

[Mark Oller]

Why is there no mention of the Larry Silverstein verdict? Robert Mukasey awarded Larry Silverstein 4.6 billion dollars for the 'terrorist' attacks on the World Trade Center.

Never mind that Silverstein admitted that he said "pull it," and WTC7 collapsed, or that it's collapse was announced 26 minutes early on the BBC. Perhaps, someone tried to send a message.

It's as if the bombing of Pearl Harbor was blamed on Arab terrorists crashing airliners into the ships, and an American samurai judge awarded Tojo and Hirohito billions of dollars in insurance. Then the samurai judge became attorney general, despite his support for torture in Japanese POW camps.

[Dana Hatch]

Nothing will change until we wake up and realize the Democrats are not on our side. They pay lip service to democratic ideals while grabbing corporate cash with the same zeal as their GOP colleagues. Whenever Bush wants to piss on the Constitution or Bill of Rights, the leading Democrats (Reid, Pelosi, Schumer, Feinstein, Clinton) hold his hand and shake his peepee when he's done.