Observations on Judge Michael Mukasey Attorney General Hearings

I wondered if these were hearings or three-ring-fiasco using questions on torture as a gotcha against President Bush. The seemingly relentless questions on whether or not and if so, under what circumstances would water boarding be utilized was borderline ridiculous. As expected, Judge Mukasey refused to play the gotcha game. One of the pictures from the Senate Judiciary Hearings showed Judge Mukasey in a face off with Senator Patrick Leahy. Senator Leahy was glaring down from his platform resembling a scene I remember from High School right before the Principal suspended me for three days for fighting. Their pose struck me as childish comedy.


I wish there was an easy way to impress upon these senators the true nature of the world we live in and the essence of the base brutality of our enemies. I believe that most of them are aware of the serious threat posed by our enemies but are blinded by their lust for power, the people be damned. It is this truth that makes their cold and calculated motives all the more repulsive. To act as they have with such a cavalier attitude that makes their actions so needful of condemnation. We used to call taking such actions against the security of the nation and such disregard for the welfare and safety of the people treason. Apparently, that has become an antiquated notion and their brazen willfulness to place their own lusts for power ahead of all else is simply the price we pay.

I wish I knew what price we the people will pay for allowing our nation to be led down this path towards destruction by these petty politicians of both parties and their incessant squabbling. We all saw the horrible and frightening images of the September 11, 2001 nightmare that played out before our eyes. It seems that either most of us have forgotten the hard taught lessons of the evil facing us and have returned to our peaceful but ignorance filled slumber. Watching our willful acquiescence to political gamesmanship instead of demanding serious actions from our political leaders is as sickening as it is frightening. I wish I knew for certain what price we will pay for our lapse in demanding resolute actions from our representatives and our passive acceptance of their partisan bickering that has replaced reasoned debate. We have lapsed from the resolve we all had on September 12 to a fractured pettiness that should have been unacceptable even on September 10. It appears that we have returned to the path we followed that led to September 11 after a very short stint down a different path that showed resolve and unity. We will eventually pay another dear price in treasure, lives, and eventual loss of freedoms unless we demand mature behavior from our political leaders. The time approaches when we will all rue the day we lost our grip on reality and allowed the return to petty squabbling and partisanship. All this was laid bare by the childishness practiced in the halls of the Senate over the confirmation of Judge Michael Mukasey as Attorney General.

Beyond the Cusp