Mr. Mukasey’s Justice

[cal04]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/opinion/27sun2.html?ref=opinion

We are, sadly, accustomed to hearing President Bush’s lawyers justify this administration’s ceaseless efforts to undermine the Constitution and the rule of law: intrusions on privacy, warrantless wiretapping, indefinite detention, torture.

It was bad enough when Attorney General Alberto Gonzales helped write and defend these policies; he always made clear his loyalties were to Mr. Bush, not the nation. But it was appalling to hear his successor, Michael Mukasey — who was supposed to be better — demanding that Congress further expand Mr. Bush’s power to detain foreigners without charges or reliable evidence, and further evade judicial oversight.

(snip)
No one is arguing that terrorists should be set free. What the administration fears is that hearings for any prisoner will reveal how much abuse has been meted out by American interrogators and how thin and tainted the evidence is against most of the Guantánamo prisoners.

It would be catastrophically irresponsible for Congress to rewrite the rules of justice according to Mr. Mukasey’s cynical template. There has been too much injustice already.

[PDJane]

1. I agree.

And if this particular administration goes unchecked, the US will continue to head down the road to fascism.