Attorney General Mukasey, Charles Schumer’s Trojan Horse?

By Tim Inwood

From where the Bush administration’s Justice Department began, I find myself shaking my head in disbelief at where we are now.

In 2001, Senator John Ashcroft was appointed Attorney General. Shortly thereafter John Ashcroft put forward a statement concerning the fact the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was in fact an individual right. To most of us this is common sense, but you have to remember this was actually a huge step forward, as this had not been done before by the Justice Department and it rocked some segments of the Washington D.C. establishment. Attorney General Ashcroft was immediately denounced by the Brady Campaign, as well as other anti-gun organizations, for this bold step forward. It was a great day in America in my view.

Shortly after that, we were attacked on September 11th and the World changed. Ashcroft issued some rulings most unpopular with liberals and I suppose he grew weary of being constantly denounced in the leftist press. He tendered his resignation and returned to private life. I was sorry to see him leave the post, but well understood the headaches of working for government and the desire to get out of the crossfire.

Sadly, when Ashcroft stepped down from the post, he was replaced by Alberto Gonzales, a man who had served as Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court and an old friend of the President. But he was a mediocre Attorney General and he was not a fan of the Second Amendment or American gun owners. I thought the Bush Justice department had hit bottom with his selection. Unfortunately I was wrong.

President Bush had his headaches with appointing a replacement for Alberto Gonzales when he stepped down in 2007. The President no longer had a Republican majority in either chamber of Congress to help grease the skids for any new nominees. The Senate Judiciary is staffed by some of the most hostile liberals in the Senate. Senator Chuck Schumer has threatened to block any new Federal judicial appointments by President Bush for the rest of his term. He has even uttered threats to the effect that if there is another Supreme Court vacancy that he would hold off allowing any new Justice to be appointed by this administration so that the next President would be making that appointment.

With this hostility to the President in mind, what happened next is somewhat surprising. When casting about for a new Attorney General, the President got some surprising advice from Senator Schumer: he actually let the White House know that Michael Mukasey, who was on the short list of candidates, was acceptable to him. Thus the White House, not desiring another fight on Capitol Hill, made the nomination official.

In the confirmation process, Mukasey hit only one major bump: he would not give the liberals the answer they wanted to hear on the issue of “waterboarding” and whether or not it was torture. Despite this flap on the torture issue, I was a bit surprised to see not only Chuck Schumer but also Diane Feinstein step forward to say they still supported this nomination. This gave me pause and told me the President had certainly picked the wrong man. That concern was soon borne out. Without further ado, the committee passed him on to the full Senate and confirmation was sealed with a Senate vote.

Mukasey has only the held the office a few months, and, frankly, I want him sacked now. In January, his Justice Department decided to issue an Amicus Brief in the District of Columbia v. Heller case, now going before the U.S. Supreme Court.

While it does pay lip service to the fact that the Second Amendment is an individual right, it also goes on to render the right as meaningless. They defend the power of any city or political entity to pass restrictions on that right if it is deemed to be in the best interests of the population. I cringed as I read the brief. The lawyer who penned this tripe should be forced to take a remedial class on the U.S. Constitution...and, frankly, so should most members of the U.S. Congress for that matter.

Hardly a week later, Attorney General Mukasey has made a deal with the government of Mexico to share registration lists of American-owned firearms with them. Mexico will now be linked to a Spanish language version of the BATFE database so they can do traces on firearms found in Mexico. I was infuriated. I know this system is not in place to return stolen firearms that turn up South of the border. So why are we doing this?

I am truly befuddled as to why we have taken this step, sharing private information about gun ownership in the United States with Mexico. I view this as a civil liberties issue.

A friend of mine confided in me recently that he has already been caught up in this. Some years ago he sold a Ruger he was not happy with at a gun show. He checked the I.D. of the fellow who bought the gun from him. The chap was a resident of Ohio, over 21 and answered all of the required questions correctly. Obviously, the fellow either sold the gun or it was stolen, for it now has turned up in a homicide in Mexico City, many years after my friend sold it. The gun was traced to the original retailer, and, thanks to having a 4473 on file, they knew who bought it. Now, my friend is being hounded by the BATFE and may face legal problems because he did not keep the gun. It is no wonder so many people are leery of buying a gun via a licensed dealer and filling out a form 4473. Having your name forever attached to the gun when something like this might happen should certainly give one pause. Are we expected to keep every piece of private property we ever acquire?

Imagine if you sell your car or truck and six years later it turns up in Mexico, used in a crime or to drive illegal immigrants across the border — and then imagine you face prosecution because you were the original owner. That is nuts.

Sadly, we will be stuck with Mukasey for the rest of President Bush’s term of office, which ends next January. However, we can do something about his incompetence. Please call the White House at (202) 456-1111, and tell the comments line operators that you would like the to see the President force the Justice Department to withdraw the Amicus Brief made in the District of Columbia v. Heller case before the U.S. Supreme Court. It is badly written and encourages the destruction of basic American civil liberties, the right to bear arms as well as the defense of our lives. The operators at the White House are nice folks, so please be polite with them. Remember, it is not their fault this has happened.

Next, you might want to write a letter to the President expressing the same. The address for the President will be at the bottom of this article. I do suggest you add one little suggestion to the President in the letter. Next time the Democrats offer up a “gift horse” like Mukasey, tell him though tradition tells us it is impolite to look a gift horse in the mouth, one offered by a liberal requires a different protocol. It is not only required he look it in the mouth, but give it a thorough examination. It may well be another Trojan Horse, prepared to do damage to our civil and Constitutional rights.

President George W. Bush
1600 Pennsylvania Ave
Washington DC 20500

Tim Inwood is the current Legislative Liaison and Past President of the Clinton County Farmers and Sportsmen Association, an Endowment Member of the NRA, Life Member of OGCA, and a volunteer for Buckeye Firearms Association in Ohio.