Sens. Schumer and Feinstein announced today they will vote in favor of confirming Michael B. Mukasey as attorney general. This means he’ll be approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee and very probably the full Senate next week. Damn.
The Mahablog
Politics. Society. Group Therapy.
Absolutely zero surprise here. Sad really . . .
Many potent explitives leap to mind.
*sigh*
I really did think they weren’t going to cave on this one … I mean jesus christ, just how much spine does it actually TAKE to take a stand against friggin TORTURE???
I’m getting tired of defending these … heh, trying not to dirty up your blog here, maha … miscreants?
Very, very demoralized by this…
-me
I’m about a mile past disheartened, a half mile past disgusted, and coming right up on furious.
This is ridiculous. Again.
to quote Monty Python “Nobody really expects the Spanish Inquisition” (origin of water-boarding if I understand Sen. McCain’s remarks)
I think i am beginning to understand the French revolution’s attitude toward the ruling classes.
I’d kind of hoped it might turn out differently, but now that it has, I find I’m not as depressed as I’d expected. It would be nice to have an Attorney General who wasn’t willing to roll over for torture, but realistically, that just isn’t going to happen with this president. If they rejected Mukasey, there’d be another, more evil, nominee right behind.
Tragically, this won’t be the first time Congress has confirmed an AG who was willing to enable torture for this president. And, much as I would like the Senate to stop tolerating the horror and criminality of this administration, stopping this particular nominee isn’t necessarily the most important way to do that.
Despite the brief, shining hope that things might be turning around, it turns out the nation is just as corrupted and degraded as it was before. At least Mukasey will give more interesting hearing testimony than Alberto.
Well, well, well… Nothing to see here folk’s. Nothing to see.. Move on!
Is Mukasey the least evil clown that coul be be nominated? Yes.
But Mukasey can’t define waterboarding as torture? Can’t the man “GOOGLE” ‘waterboarding’ to find out what it is? Couldn’t one of his aides? It’s not like we have an “Americna” brand of waterboaring that ISN”‘T torture… Maybe he could try it himself?
Schumer and Feinstien are just two more drips in America’s demise. Waterboarding is the least of the torture scandal’s. Rendition may be worse. These two are part of the problem, not part of the sollution…
That this man is going to be allowed to be the AG is BS
When are Democrat’s finally going to take a stand? What issue will EVER be important enough to say, “This is it. Cross this line, and we will do EVERYTHING in our power to stop you!!!”
No wonder the Democrat’s seem like coward’s. They are. Democrat’s = cowardice. They NEVER take a stand!!!
I’m a lifelong Democrat. I HATE being labelled as that. But what am I to do? I call, I e-mail, I write. NO difference…
The political consulant’s have these people by the you-know-what’s.
Get rid of the political consultan’s and you might have a future. Keep listening to them, and you will fail every time.
This country is begging for change. If you don’t help change it, this country is lost.
If you don’t take the bull by its horn’s, don’t balme us when you lose the bullfight.
Tepid, timid, and troublesome. That is how I describe the Democrat’s.
Great job, Schumer and Feinstien!!!
SAD. PATHETIC…
I don’t know what else to say…
NTodd suggested we call it “Partial drowning interrogation.”
I wonder what Schumer and Feinstien get for caving in?
There is always a deal that has been brokered. Quid pro quo–as Dr. Lecter was quick to remind Clarice. Politicians never go against the grain for free.
So let’s think about it. The Repugs get what they want and in return, Chuck and Diane (s***, the mind boggles) get _________? Are these two chuckleheads the designated scapegoat for a larger subgroup? We don’t hear any of the Demo leadership squealin’ and bawlin’. Maybe the so-called defectors simply drew the black bean this time for the crew.
Have you noticed that the nuclear option has not been mentioned, much less threatened in a long time. My discussion group and I think there is a big, big fix in somewhere. The Dem leadership has traded their silence and in key instances compliance for something.
What could it be–protecting ______________?
If, only, there was someone with spine to vote for.
I am so disgusted with virtually every Dem.
This is how it feels to be outsmarted by Little George. He knew that Feingold, Feinstein, Kohl, Cardin and Schumer would not vote against Mukasey.
Sen. Feinstein is not spineless.
She stands up for her own true principles.
Always has.
And those principles are:
– more power to the powerful
– more authority for those in charge
– more money for the wealthy
– screw the powerless
She has never been a liberal, although she sometimes imitates one with a fair degree of success.
Her current term of office ends in 2012.
We have five years in which to find an actual Democrat to replace her. Seems like it should be enough.
joel hanes #12 – you’ve nailed DiFi. I’ve had a long, slow, burn against her, seemingly forever, but this latest capitulation is the last straw. There has to be someone better qualified to take her on in 2012. I suspect this is her last term, given her age (she’s early 70s I believe). Comments on DKos today are about starting some sort of recall action against her, but the consensus is that there is no such mechanism available to the public to remove a sitting senator.
I’ve been so cheered by our other stellar representatives, like Barbara Boxer and Henry Waxman, that I’ve been distracted from the continually lame and mostly lowkey performances of Dianne Feinstein to get serious about doing something about her. It appears we’re stuck with her for now.
One of the issues here is that the standard has been re-normalized, and it’s been partly because of previous cave-ins. The Dems were afraid of being labeled “soft on terrorism” by standing up early, so by now, having a person equivocating on waterboarding isn’t all that unexpected.
I disagree with the idea that Mukasey is the best we’ll get, however. I think that they should reject him, flat out, and make the message loud and clear: “Bush killed this nomination by selecting a nominee who would not reject torture. He will not get a nominee in place who does not reject torture.” Better to have an acting AG in place than saying “well, maybe a little torture is okay.” If Mukasey isn’t going to clean house and prosecute the torturers, torture is going to be the new normal for America, and the question will be “is it torture if a bone is accidentally broken, when the intention was only to administer a beating that wouldn’t cause extended injuries?”
Torture is ok by me 🙂
So sayith Schumer and Fenistein.
‘Let the word go forth, from this time and place, that we have nothing to fear, but fear – and any form of strong, capable government, itself!’
Torture is in the eye of the beholder. If there’s no one to behold it -there is no torutre!
BEHOLD! WE DO NOT TORTURE!!!!
I’m with Longhairedweirdo. No torture, not just a little bit, none is acceptable; who approves a little torture for some perceived political benefit ought to have a better and more personal understanding of what they authorized.
Torture, in any form, is not American.
It is not civilized…
This doesn’t mean that we don’t do it under the Bush Preznitcy. We do!
We just say we don’t.
It all really means that we shouldn’t!
Not any time!
Not anywhere!!
Not anyone!!!
Well, maybe Bush and Cheney…???
Not any time!
Not anywhere!!
Not anyone!!!
Period!!!!!
Just say “NO” to torture!!!
“Nuff said!!!