The waterboarding of Mukasey

There is every possibility that Michael Mukasey, who seems generally qualified to be Attorney General (unlike Alberto Gonzalez, whose only real qualification was “buddy of President Bush”), has run into a problem. The problem has relatively little to do with him, but everything to do with President Bush and his handling of executive power and his relationship with the Senate.

Frankly, George Bush acts as if he thinks that he should get what he wants because he wants it, and other people (including the press or the other two branches of the government) should stop bothering him. That’s all well and good, I suppose, but he should bear in mind that it doesn’t necessarily lend parts of those other branches to working with him when he needs them.

That’s where Michael Mukasey comes in. Generally, he’s qualified to serve in the position of Attorney General, though I have some concerns about him (Perhaps most notably, I’m concerned about his role in the Jose Padilla case, in which he ruled that the President does have the authority to detain anyone he accuses of being an “enemy combatant.” At the same time, though, he ruled against the Bush administration in several aspects of that case, including Padilla’s right to counsel and habeas corpus protection.

There’s a lot more to consider. Ultimately, it will get little consideration. President Bush has ensured that his relationship with Congress is almost entirely combative, especially in reference to the Department of Justice. The DOJ has been run as if there is no function for oversight. President Bush and his administration have refused to cooperate, and they’ve fostered a sense of mutual antagonism.

This is one of the respects in which the Bush administration will have to be deemed as a failure. President Bush has not been a leader, he’s charged forward with the assertion that his will should be done. His contempt for Congress has been proven over and over again. He doesn’t take seriously the balance of powers between the three branches of government, and certainly doesn’t believe in checks and balances.

Beyond this, President Bush and the Justice Department have talked all around the issues of torture. The Senate and the Judiciary Committee are grandstanding, and being rather sanctimonious about it.

Bush asked for it.

Judge Mukasey may or may not be confirmed. I rather doubt it at this point. Notice is being served that the Senate is not going to do the President’s bidding just because he bids it. Whether he admits it, and whether he likes it or not, he needs them.