George Will has some very good questions for the President’s choice as new Attorney General, Michael Mukasey.

Conservative Legal thought is at a crossroads.  When it comes to executive power, we need make a choice.  Either we attempt to follow the original intent and text of the constitution, or we bend, break and violate every legal principle and rule on the books in order to pour as much power into the hands of the President of the United States as possible.  Up till now, the Bush administration has chosen option number 2.  If there is going to be a shift in this approach, a new attitude on the part of the AG would be a good start.  While the President is still the ultimate authority over the department, a change at the Cabinet level can still have a dramatic impact. 

Judge Mukasey needs to also explain his management techniques and experiences.  The DOJ needs competent leadership after the incompetence of Alberto Gonzales.  Hopefully the administration is attuned to that fact and there are signs they are looking to put more competent people in positions of power.  Robert Gates appears to have made major strides in turning around the DOD after the horrid tenure of his predecessor.  Here’s hoping that the Judge can bring some sober, sane, adult leadership over to the DOJ as well.

Larry will just never be able to live this one down.

After hearing Bush say Thursday that he was going to veto the bill in part because it would allow families of four making $80,000 to place their children on the the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), Grassley blasted the president, saying his assertion was dead wrong.

“The president has been served wrong information about what our bill will do,” Grassley said Thursday between Senate votes. “There’s nothing in our bill that would do that. His understanding of the bill was wrong.”

Bush, in a morning news conference, told reporters that “Congress has made the decision to expand the program up to $80,000. … This is a step toward federalization of health care.”

Grassley said that a waiver to allow higher income families to utilize SCHIP has been taken out of the conference committee compromise forged between House and Senate negotiators over the past two days.

The House will vote next week on the final legislation, followed by the Senate. The Senate should reach 68 votes in favor of the bill, enough to override a presidential veto, but the House is far short of a veto override, meaning lawmakers will have to scramble to figure out whether to temporarily extend the program, which expires Sept. 30, or let it lapse. The compromise under consideration would increase spending on children’s healh by $35 billion and would be funded 61 cent tobacco tax increase.

Politico

You know what Chuck? You show me where in the Constitution you are granted the authority to steal money from me and give it to other peoples’ children and I’ll stand up and be outraged with you. Until then, shut the hell up and go back to the cornfields. It’s disgraceful that you would call yourself a Republican and support a tax increase for expanding Socialism.

I am trying to understand the case of the Jena 6. Is attempted murder justified because some dumb white kids hung some nooses in a tree? According to the race warlords Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton it is. They talk about justice for the Jena 6, but what about justice for the young man they allegedly assaulted? Are they being charged with a hate crime?