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Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has decided to support Bush's nominee for Attorney General, Michael Mukasey.
So basically since Bush won't nominate someone Schumer agrees with, so he is rolling over and playing dead on the issue.Schumer's announcement followed a private meeting Friday with Mukasey to discuss waterboarding.
"I deeply oppose it," Schumer said of waterboarding. "Unfortunately, this nominee, indeed any proposed by President Bush, will not agree with this. I am, however, confident that this nominee would enforce a law that bans waterboarding."
Mukasey isn't sure if waterboarding is torture and if Democrats believe torture is wrong and that waterboard is torture then they need to be against this nomination. Unfortunately, Schumber's statement is just another example of establishment Democrats showing no spine and not standing up for what they believe in.
**Update [11-2 at 9:45] **
Conservative Andrew Sullivan chimes in...
Every time the Democrats fold on these matters, Cheney tucks a precedent under his belt. Every time they cave into their cowardice and fear, another critical part of our liberty disappears. These precedents are designed to destroy the rule of law and replace it with the rule of a Decider. And they will last for ever, as will the right to torture, because this war is for ever. This is how democracies perish. The rule of law no longer has any party to defend it. The Republicans want no check on the powers of our de facto protectorate. And the Democrats have no spine. We live under the lawless protectorate we deserve. And such lawlessness is always the result when cowards refuse to confront bullies.
6 comments:
Dianne Feinstein is killing me. I regret voting for her.
I reject Feinsteins support for a candidate that supports torture!! If she thinks that we will vote again for her, she is sadly mistaken. Sorry, but bye bye!!
I was kind of hoping you wouldn't comment on this issue so that I wouldn't have to respond but...
Judge Mukasey's answeres on this issue and his refusal to tell Congress what they want to hear regarding executive branch power are exactly right.
It is first important to understand what Judge Mukasey has actually said on the issue of waterboarding. He said he personally finds it repugnant. He also -correctly- pointed out that he has not been briefed on what if any interogation techiniques have or have not been authorized previously. Likewise, as Arlen Spector pointed out, Judge Mukasey is being put in an impossible position here. He literally -can't- say that waterboarding is tortue because it would obligate him to bring war crimes charges against CIA interrogators should it be proven such tactics were used.
There isn't a better nominee out there folks, and certainly not one who George Bush would nominate. No one will, or CAN, give the democrats the answer they want. Of course, Democrats can't give -themselves- the answer they want since congress has repeatedly failed to explicitly lable waterboarding torture.
The fact is, Judge Mukasey is a thoughtful conciencious lawyer who gave the legally correct answers to every question put to him by Congress. But Congress doesn't care about the actual qualifications of a nominee so long as they can spin the nomination to score political points. That is all democrats are doing on this.
Dianne Feinstein has been a disappointment for many years. She is not a progressive at all.
I have donated to the DSCC in the past, but no longer. I will be giving solely to individual candidates.
desmoinesdem
If the Judiciary Committee is going to support the nomination, then they should "demand that [he] appoint a special prosecutor to investigate if war crimes have been committed."
Ben,
I see your point. I am more upset with Schumer for the way he said he would be supporting the nominee than the fact he is supporting him. His comments make Democrats seem spineless. To make up for it, Schumer should be submitting a bill next week that defines waterboarding as torture.
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