I guess we have proof, somewhat earlier than expected, that Michael Mukasey shouldn't be confirmed. Though dollars to doughnuts he will be. In spite of a wobbly moral compass and a tendency to play political games.
President Bush’s nominee for attorney general, Michael B. Mukasey, declined today to say if he considered such harsh interrogation techniques as waterboarding, which creates the sensation of drowning, to constitute torture or to be illegal when used against terrorist suspects...
... “Is waterboarding constitutional?” he was asked by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, in one of today’s sharpest exchanges.
“I don’t know what is involved in the technique,” Mr. Mukasey replied. “If waterboarding is torture, torture is not constitutional.”
And if you don't know, Mr. M., you don't deserve to be attorney general. As though that matters -- "Mr. Mukasey still seems almost certain to win Senate confirmation."
And when he does, watch out. He firmly believes there are areas where the presidents' powers are greater than Congress's right to oversight. As Spencer Ackerman writes: "John Yoo might have a bad headache, but his skull is probably intact."
One of Andrew Sullivan's commenters writes:
Just pretend it's Hillary Clinton testifying rather than a right-wing Republican. If it were, you'd be ranting and raving and comparing her to Josef Mengele by now. There are so many holes in his testimony that you could drive any kind of torture through them - as Bush most certainly will. That's why he was chosen.
USAToday has this assurance that the Justice Department knows better than Congress how to deal with the media:
Michael Mukasey, President Bush's nominee for attorney general, told senators Thursday he's resistant to passing a law shielding reporters from being forced to reveal their sources, saying it would be "much easier" to fix internal Justice Department practice if need be.
Democrats have gotten into the habit of accepting the least worst. Time to come to terms with the fact that, given the quality of Bush nominees, least worst winds up being beyond even our worst imaginings. Every time. Wake up, Senators.
