Generation of Swine

The nation's top cop, Attorney General Michael Mukasey, should be tarred, feathered, drug through an angry mob brandishing rotten vegetables and then sent to prison for the rest of his natural life for his gross dereliction of duty and what essentially amounts to treason--and not one of those country club prisons either. He deserves the dankest, most wicked hellhole we've got.

Justice Staffers Won't Be Prosecuted For Illegal Hiring Practices

My ire wasn't sparked by that decision alone. It came more from his weaselly posturing afterwards:

Said Mukasey, "Not every wrong, or even every violation of the law, is a crime."

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME???

**However, much consternation has been stirred about the legal kung-fu involved in interpreting Mukasey's statement. Especially from folks outside the legal community. Like myself. Not that this absolves the pandering tool of an AG and his motives for taking no further action in the DOJ hiring scandal... but I suppose it does provide a look at exactly which bunker he's taking his legal refuge under. (This dialogue was taken from reader J's comment over at a Sadly, No! post):

...here’s something from FireDogLake:

“Understand: Mukasey has turned into a terrible shill for the Administration. But it has been clear for over a year that the Administration would escape criminal charges for having committed massive violations of the Hatch Act. But that has more to do with the Hatch Act than with Michael Mukasey. Even a Democratic AG would have a hard time charging this stuff, given the stated penalties for civil Hatch Act violations.

The Hatch Act gives citizens no real recourse for the politicization of our government. And the loyal Bushies know this. After all, by all appearances, they’re still committing Hatch Act violations.”
(http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/08/12/i-hate-to-say-i-told-you-so/) Emphasis in original.

The conduct of Sampson & Goodling — as noxious, hideous, corrupt & terrible as it most certainly was — just did NOT violate any *criminal* laws.

To repeat something I’ve said several times already that perfectly illustrates this: Title VII (federal law) prohibits firing an employee because they’re black. Such a firing is *illegal,* but it is NOT a crime. Under Title VII, the EEOC might be able to impose a fine or the fired employee might bring a civil suit for damages.

Under the federal civil service laws, weak as they currently are, it seems the most that can be done against scum like Goodling & Sampson is to fire them. But they no longer work for the Government.

What we should do is press our Congress critters to pass some criminal penalties for this kind of corrupt politicization of our Justice Department. We should not pillory Mukasey for making this statement. Besides, we have *plenty* of other valid reasons to trash this pathetic excuse for an AG.