Time says: “How Bush’s AG Pick Irritates the Right”

“Disappoints” may be more accurate. Here’s our editorial; bottom line:

Questions have also arisen over some of Mukasey’s rulings in areas other than national security — for example, his denial of asylum to Chinese émigrés who had fled forced abortions. It will be important to study the judge’s record. It will be equally important to bear in mind that a conservative jurist is one who shows restraint — it being no more proper for the judiciary to impose a conservative policy than to impose a liberal one. Mukasey’s 1994 decision in a case called Dong v. Slattery appears to indicate appropriate deference to the asylum policies of the U.S., not an endorsement of China’s noxious one-child policy. But the confirmation will still be an ordeal, with the nominee at the mercy of Democratic senators intent on politicizing good-faith legal disagreements with the Bush administration. Lacking direct experience in the ways of Washington, Mukasey may well find the hearings a valuable political tutorial. His record indicates sound views on national-security issues such as FISA reform; now he will see firsthand the agenda that threatens important antiterrorism tools. He should win the support of impartial observers, and deserves a speedy confirmation.