NYT editorial: "Consider how Bush has degraded the office of Attorney General."

[DeepModem Mom]

Torture and the Attorneys General
Published: November 1, 2007

Consider how President Bush has degraded the office of attorney general.

His first choice, John Ashcroft, helped railroad undue restrictions of civil liberties through Congress after the 9/11 attacks. Mr. Ashcroft apparently had some red lines and later rebuffed the White House when it pushed him to endorse illegal wiretapping. Then came Alberto Gonzales who, while he was White House counsel, helped to redefine torture, repudiate the Geneva Conventions and create illegal detention camps. As attorney general, Mr. Gonzales helped cover up the administration’s lawless behavior in anti-terrorist operations, helped revoke fundamental human rights for foreigners and turned the Justice Department into a branch of the Republican National Committee.

Mr. Gonzales resigned after his extraordinary incompetence became too much for even loyal Republicans. Now Mr. Bush wants the Senate to confirm Michael Mukasey, a well-respected trial judge in New York who has stunned us during the confirmation process by saying he believes the president has the power to negate laws and by not committing himself to enforcing Congressional subpoenas. He also has suggested that he will not uphold standards of decency during wartime recognized by the civilized world for generations.

After a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in which Mr. Mukasey refused to detail his views on torture, he submitted written answers to senators’ questions that were worse than his testimony. They suggest that he, like Mr. Gonzales, would enable Mr. Bush’s lawless behavior and his imperial attitude toward Congress and the courts....

***

Mr. Mukasey’s letter to the Senate committee accepts the administration’s use of the so-called shocks-the-conscience test to determine the legality of interrogation methods, rather than the clear and specific prohibitions against torture, humiliation and cruel treatment embedded in American and international law. The administration’s standard is dangerously vague, invites abuse and amounts to a unilateral reinterpretation of the Geneva Conventions. Would Mr. Mukasey approve of a foreign jailer using waterboarding on an American soldier? Mr. Bush’s policies increase the danger of that happening.

There seems to be little chance that Mr. Bush will appoint the sort of attorney general that the nation needs, a job that includes enforcing voting rights laws and civil rights laws and ensuring that criminal prosecutions are done fairly. Still, senators with a conscience that can be shocked should insist that Mr. Bush meet a higher standard than this nomination.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/01/opinion/01thu1.html?hp

[babylonsister]

1. Every Congresscritter knows what's up. If one Dem confirms Mukasey

I will not be a happy camper.

[rodeodance]

6. Shumer was his sponser and he has not said NO.

[robinlynne]

7. Schumer and Feinstein.

[Demeter]

8. Then I Won't Tell You About Feinstein AND Schumer

You'll need a good night's sleep.

[Solly Mack]

2. Yes vote = allow the continuation of torture and protect war criminals

and people that vote to allow the continuation of torture, as well as to protect war criminals , are war criminals themselves.

[dpbrown]

4. If a nation won't prosecute its own war crimes, haul it to the International Criminal Court

Bush obviously wants a lawless nation from the Dark Ages with iron maidens and boiling oil.

Send him to the International Criminal Court as a war criminal.

[pnwmom]

3. Thanks for posting. K & R. n/t

[Usrename]

5. The Dems will use some bullshit slight of hand, like the Alito nomination.

41 votes were needed to stop Alito.

42 Senators voted that he is not fit for the job.

There he sits.

Once Mukasey is out of Committee the horse is out of the barn. Every Dem could vote against him on the floor and he would still be confirmed.

Letting him get recommended for a floor vote is treason.

And it's going to happen. We all know it is going to happen.

Heads on pikes!!!

[Heywood J]

9. I find the language interesting here.

"Mr. Bush"
"Illegal detention camps"
"Illegal wiretapping"


I wonder who got to decide to distance themselves from the administration here? The language is decidedly changing. No "allegedly"s or "potentially"s here.

[DeepModem Mom]

10. An interesting point -- thanks! nt

[reprobate]

11. What does it say about 'OUR' party when even the Times is more anti-Bush than 'OUR' congress:

Frankly, my main reaction to the continued genuflecting of Democrats to the whims of Bush/Cheney is nausea.

The poster above said it succinctly, to approve of treasonous acts is itself treason. Feinstein should stand with Ethel Rosenberg.

The party could get a reality check by watching the media laugh at their invertebrate status. You know that respect for your honor is gone when the late night comedians make jokes about you AND Bush.

But we have no one to blame but ourselves. We expected a majority on our side to vote WITH our side,but just as a leopard won't change his spots, neither will cowards and traitors. They simply snookered us. It's not as if they didn't warn us by their past behavior.

I'm quickly reaching the point of splitting with the current Dems and seeking a progressive substitute.

[Eric J in MN]

12. The more Democrats vote "No," the better.

If Michael Mukasey is confirmed, the fewer Democrats vote for him, the less Michael Mukasey taints the Democratic Party.

After the Judiciary Committee vote, I'm going to contact the office of my Democratic Senator, Amy Klobuchar, and ask for a "No" vote, as a matter of Democrats being the party of decency.