Mukasey Picked As Next Attorney General

Of all the times during his presidency that he could have "made a deal" with Democrats, President Bush picks now to do it?

What the hell is that all about?

If the Administration was trying to avoid a fight with the left over the confirmation of Alberto Gonzales' replacement as Attorney General, they may have succeeded with the nomination of former New York district judge Michael Mukasey. The question now is whether they'll have a fight with the right. Both in Mukasey himself, and in the process by which he picked him, Bush has gone against the right, spurning their favored choice, engaging with – and conceding to – Democrats, and naming a New Yorker who is an unknown quantity on many of the social issues about which they care most deeply.

Through weeks of quiet deliberation, Bush abandoned the confrontational pronouncements to which Congress has grown accustomed. Instead, White House counsel Fred Fielding reached out to Democrats, including Bush's constant opponent Senator Charles Schumer of New York, who had previously recommended Mukasey as a Supreme Court nominee. Schumer and Fielding went so far as to discuss names, and Mukasey's came up. "We're in an alternate universe," says one Senate aide. "Charles Schumer saying something nice about a guy used to be the kiss of death."

What on Earth would possess him to befriend the other side of the aisle while attempting to alienate some of his convervative supporters at the same time? Isn't he a conservative too? Has he been faking it all this time?

While I support him fully with the war, I have a hard time turning a blind eye when he pulls stunts like this. If you believe President Bush hasn't made his share of mistakes, then I have some ocean front Arizona real estate you could buy.