The US Senate has confirmed Michael Mukasey as the next Attorney General. After his views on torture and harsh interrogation issues nearly ended any hope for a nomination, the Senate moved to confirm Michael Mukasey as attorney general.
The Senate went into overtime to finish its debate, deciding that Mukasey is the best they can do in a Bush administration not willing to nominate anyone else.
(Source: AP)
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18 Responses
Great tactic. Nominate one person. refuse to niminate any one else. You can still say he got the highest rating, no matter how low it was.
maybe Mukasey could learn bchavrusa with joe lieberman.
not bad that they worked overtime. It’s okay for them to do some work once in a while
What’s your source on this “Orthodox Jew” claim?
Post 4: Possibly the amount of undisputed public press that calls him “Orthodox.” And the fact that he davens at an Ortho shul (granted, one that is probably a bit more modernishe than is for me and maybe you). If he was not Ortho, he or someone else probably would have corrected it by now. But, if he’s a shomer Shabbos, shomer kashrus, and adheres to the dinim of taharas ha’mishpocho, I think it would hard to claim that he’s not Ortho. But then, it depends on your definition of Ortho – in some communities, I am seen as “the frummie.” In others, I am the village sheigetz. We’re all on a spectrum of observance, and after 120 years it’s going to be one heck of a party to see who gets a front row seat in the olam ha’emes – we simply have no idea what is in store for us, and what credits others have accumulated – what’s the old saying, if you imagine that every man on the street is Eliyahu Ha’Novi waiting for a kindness, Moshiach would be here by now –
Inward, and onward –
#4: Mr. Mukasey is a graduate of the Ramaz School, a modern orthodox day school in Manhattan. My understanding is that he identifies as orthodox, and he is certainly Jewish. Should we doubt our brother’s word?
DEAR CRZ
HE WENT TO RAMAZ ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WHICH IS A SHOMER SHABBOS SCHOOL AND HIS WIFE WAS A TEACHER THERE FOR MANY YEARS
He was Chosson Torah in his Orthodox shul on the East Side of Manhattan. He is not Yeshivish, just a Frum Jew.
nfgo,
So we should let the terrorists kill Americans even if torture would have them reveal their plans to us? This is misplaced mercy of the worst sort.
hamiracheim al haachzorim sofo lachzer es harachmonim
Hoshivah shofteinu kevarishonah.
Tzoorba, there are limits, I think, even al pi halachah, to what one can do to another even if he suspects the other is out to do harm.
I wouldn’t call is “misplaced mercy of the worst sort”; it’s no picnic for those guys even without “torture”-techniques.
HaKatan,
“Tzoorba, there are limits, I think, even al pi halachah, to what one can do to another even if he suspects the other is out to do harm.”
I am not aware of any limits to what one can do to their enemies if they suspect that they have knowledge of future danger to their own people. The enemy is essentially zero relative to owns own people.
“I wouldn’t call is “misplaced mercy of the worst sort”; it’s no picnic for those guys even without “torture”-techniques.”
Surely you jest. Most of the Gitmo inmates are living better than they did in their own homelands.
We are not out to make it comfortable for them. We are intent on not being destroyed and doing as much harm as possible to our enemies so that they don’t harm us. Anything that doesn’t fit these guidelines is misplaced mercy.
dear nfgo
how do you talk like that about an administration
that has done alot for israel no matter how much on the outside it may seem as if the Bush administration is harsh on israel regarding peace, i know alot of things that cant be posted that would change your mind for those items alone. America and Israel go hand in hand the whole Iraq war was partially if not mainy saving israel “the dirty work” and saving Israel from a nuclear attack although we didnt find any do you think they would have left them out in the open. dont be so critical of those who help you and your brothers
Thank everyone. I wasn’t saying not, I just had no idea the man shomer mitzvos. This claim came out of left field for me, so I just wanted a source. But I see that a google news search for (mukasey orthodox) returns a lot of mainstream outfits like LA Times who refer to him as orthodox, so I guess it must be true.
crz – i would believe Yeshiva World accounts quicker than I would believe the la times
Nekama is mandated by the Torah. And the terrorists are trained not to release info regarding fellow terrorists, and different methods of “torture” (even though they are by non life-threatening means) have proven to extract vital (lifesaving) info from terrorists in approximately a minute and a half.
What would you terrorist advocates do when there is 10 minutes until the big bomb goes off in NYC, and a gitmo prisoner has the information to stop it, you would sit and beg him for the info?!? I think I”ll stick with water boarding, and thank God for the opportunity of avoiding disaster (and I’d feel good for all the kids that would have lost their dads and/or moms but are still loved by their parents).
By the way our country also protects 3.5 million Muslims living in our country, so any method used to prevent a terrorist attack in our country is a great benefit to the Muslim community as well (after all wouldn’t failing to protect them from terrorists be anti Muslim?).
If we stoop to the terrorists’ level by torturing people, why do we deserve to win? In any event, there is no proof that torture works. On the contrary, the expert interrogators from WWII write that it does not.
I don’t really see why this should be such a big issue. We have been able to defeat far greater enemies with huge armies without resorting to inhuman and unethical methods. When we were fighting the Nazis, we didn’t need torture. When we fought the cold war, we didn’t need torture. And now we need torture to deal with a few thugs who hid out in caves? I think there are certain armchair tough guys like Dick Cheney who somehow shep nachas from bullying.
I wish Mukasey all the best and hope that he can stand up for the rule of law in the face of this administration that has shown nothing but contempt for it.
Yes, torture definitely works. The people who claim that it doesn’t never bring any proof. In WW2 we certainly did these things, the press just didn’t report it, because they were loyal, unlike the press today who see themselves as higher than patriotism and loyalty and think they have to be neutral between the USA and al Qaeda.
Any normal person can understand that waterboarding Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was the right thing to do; any system of philosophy or “ethics” that leads to the conclusion that it was wrong needs to be rethought. And yes, we do deserve to win; you’re pretending that the only difference between us and them is the methods that we use. When we kill them it’s right and just, and when they kill us it’s murder and terrorism. That’s how it is, because we are right and they are wrong. And if you have any doubt about that then you should be ashamed of yourself.