In what I can only call shocking, Muskasey while giving a commencement speech at the Boston College Law School tried to defend John Yoo, one of the authors of the Torture Memos. The dodges he use are insulting, even more so since being used to a crowd of Lawyers and Law Professors. They had to have seen through his ploys, and if it had been my graduation I would of had to walk out.
After some time setting up his straw dog it comes down to his basic argument. Tough Times call for tough readings of the Law, consequences be damned.
In short, the message sent to our national security lawyers in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks was clear; it was bipartisan; and it was all but unanimous. It was that the legal culture in our intelligence agencies, and in the Justice Department, was too risk-averse. It needed to be more aggressive, it needed to push to the limits of the law, to give policymakers and operators the most flexibility possible to confront the existential threat of international terrorism. Transcript
I don't remember being asked if I wanted our Justice Dept. to throw out the laws so they could Wiretape Americans without a Warrant, or if I wanted them to make up laws that would allow the Pres. to claim that Torture was legal and them proceed to torture. There is a big difference between "more aggressive" and making up cites in the law to make illegal acts appear to be legal. We know today that is what Yoo, Waterboard Willie Haynes, and "Judge"Bybee did. Mukasey gets even farther out there in his fantasy claims of what is right.( It really galls me to have to type Judge before Bybees name )
During this speech Mukasey showed the room full of future Lawyers and Law Professors how he will act after the current investigations in the acts of Yoo, current Federal Judge Bybee, and others, are complete, he will refuse to prosecute them. Why ?
Lara Jordan of the Boston Globe wrote this important observation showing us why.
Mukasey told Boston College Law School graduates Friday that lawyers doing their part to protect the country in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks should not now be held liable or face criminal charges for doing so.
Mukasey went on to explain how he feels about the investigations and calls for Yoo and others to be brought up on charges.
At the Friday ceremony, Mukasey lambasted critics seeking to bring lawsuits or charges against the lawyers.
"The rhetoric of these discussions is hostile and unforgiving," Mukasey said in his prepared remarks.
Hostile and Unforgiving ? You bet. The Lawyers who decided to take it upon themselves to attempt to destroy the Constitution, make Torture legal, and claim that we had no need to follow International Treaties and Laws, while ruining the reputation of the USA don't deserve pity. They deserve jail time.
Author Paul Craig Roberts writes on the Populist Party website "I sympathize with the calls for Yoo's dismissal. In the new edition of The Tyranny of Good Intentions, my coauthor and I write: "Liberty has no future in America if law schools provide legitimacy to those who would subvert the US Constitution." http://www.populistamerica.com/...
If the Atty. Gen. has already formed his opinion then he lacks even the appearance of neutrality required to do his job and it's time for him to be removed. Many of us saw this coming when during his confirmation hearing he refused to say if Waterboarding is torture. To this day he still refuses to answer that question in any detail.
While we are at it, it's time we review Judge Bybees role in all this. Why should we allow someone who with such a flawed view of the Law continue to be a sitting Federal Judge ? Congress should start impeachment proceedings to remove Bybee since the evidence of his complicity in the Torture Memo was only revealed after his appointment.
It's time to start cleaning house, why should we have to wait until next yr ? " If not us, who, if not now, when "? Yes, I admit I feel that " fierce urgency of Now ".