Mukasey confirmed

In the dead of night, the United States Senate confirmed Michael Mukasey as attorney general.

The 53-to-40 vote made Mr. Mukasey, a former federal judge, the third person to head the Justice Department during the tenure of President Bush, placing him in charge of an agency that members of both parties say suffered under the leadership of Alberto R. Gonzales.

Six Democrats joined 46 Republicans and one independent in approving the judge, with his backers praising him as a strong choice to restore morale at the Justice Department and independently oversee federal prosecutions in the final months of the Bush administration.

Thirty-nine Democrats and one independent opposed him.

The chief law enforcement officer of this land is a man who either cannot or will not state that waterboarding is torture, and who believes the president is above the law.

And again I ask, why did we need a Democratic majority for this? We could have had this with the Republicans in charge.

Mukasey

The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved the nomination of an attorney general designate who refuses to state that waterboarding is torture, and who suggests that the president enjoys the prerogative to operate outside the boundaries of the law.

As with so many other capitulations to Bush, we could have had this result with the Republicans in charge. Will somebody please remind me why we need a Democratic majority in congress?

Another 'no' vote on Mukasey

Joe Biden, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committtee, says he will not support Michael Mukasey as attorney general. He cites Mukasey's refusal so far to characterize waterboarding as torture, or as a criminal act.

I am disappointed by Judge Mukasey’s response. He was asked a direct question on the specifics of waterboarding and he refused to unequivocally state that this practice is torture. For this reason, I shall oppose his nomination to be the United States Attorney General.

“Waterboarding is by any standard, torture. I called on my colleagues today to support legislation I introduced this summer banning waterboarding and other forms of torture. When we use torture or other cruel and inhumane treatment of detainees, we diminish our ability to argue that the same techniques should not be used against our own troops. We need to send a clear message that torture, inhumane, and degrading treatment of detainees is unacceptable and is not permitted by U.S. law. Period. We cannot have a United States Attorney General who will equivocate and dissemble on this matter. Too much is at stake.”

It is not clear whether this means Biden will vote to kill Mukasey's nomination in committee, or if he only intends to vote "no" in the full chamber.

Previously, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), also a member of the Judiciary Committee, expressed disappointment in Mukasey for failing to characterize waterboarding as torture. Prior to that, he had said his support for Mukasey hinged on the nominee's willingness to say that the practice does amount to torture.

Dodd says 'no' to Mukasey

Sen. Chris Dodd says he will vote against confirming Michael Mukasey as U.S. Attorney General.

From the blog at Dodd's campaign website:

Senator Chris Dodd today announced his opposition to Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey, citing Mr. Mukasey's counsel against adherence to the rule of law as a determining factor.

"Mr. Mukasey's position that the President does not have to heed the law disqualifies him from being the chief attorney for the United States. We have seen for too long, and at great expense to our national security, an Administration that has systematically attacked the rule of law and turned our Justice Department into a political wing of the White House. I'm afraid that Mr. Mukasey as Attorney General would be more of the same."

Dodd is not a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, but it is still significant that he is publicly casting doubt on Mukasey's fitness to serve.

Mukasey

I really hope this isn't just a bunch of empty rhetoric:

The nomination of Michael B. Mukasey as attorney general encountered resistance today, with some Democratic senators suggesting for the first time that they might oppose Mr. Mukasey if he does not make clear that he opposes waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques that have been used against terror suspects.

[..]

At his Senate confirmation hearings last week, Mr. Mukasey, a retired federal judge from New York, declined to say if he agreed with many lawmakers and human rights groups that waterboarding is a form of torture. He said he did not know the details of how waterboarding, an interrogation technique that has been used by the C.I.A. against senior Al Qaeda leaders, was conducted.

[...]

On Tuesday, all 10 Democrats on the Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Mr. Mukasey asking him to make a clear-cut statement of opposition to waterboarding and to describe it as illegal.

On Thursday, the Senator Majority Leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, was asked by a reporter if Mr. Mukasey should be confirmed in light of his failure to make a statement of opposition to waterboarding.

“We’ll have to wait and see,” Senator Reid said, adding that he had been “troubled” by Mr. Mukasey’s testimony last week. “I think if he doesn’t change his direction in that regard, he could have at least one concern. And that’s me.”

If Mukasey's nomination does not make it out of committee, the Republicans will shriek bloody murder. They will howl that the Democrats are keeping America from having an attorney general in a time of war. The will insist that Mukasey deserves an up-or-down vote. The Democrats should let them scream, and then repeat their insistence that Mukasey repudiate torture in all its forms, unequivocally.

There is no priority more urgent for congress than restorning the rule of American law. The lawless practices of George W. Bush are the greatest threat we face. These practices are a greater threat than terrorism, and they must be stopped. We cannot afford another chief law enforcement officer who considers himself a defender of the president, rather than a defender of the law and the citizens whom it protects.

If Michael Mukasey cannot assure the senate that his first loyalty is to the rule of law, his nomination must denied.