Mukasey Confirmed As Attorney General

Wins Confirmation 53-40, Despite Waterboarding Controversy

(AP)  The Senate confirmed retired judge Michael Mukasey as attorney general Thursday night to replace Alberto Gonzales, who was forced from office in a scandal over his handling of the Justice Department.

President Bush thanked the Senate, even though the margin had been whittled down from nearly unanimous by a sharp debate over Mukasey's refusal to say whether the waterboarding interrogation technique is torture.

“He will be an outstanding attorney general,” Mr. Bush said in a statement from his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Republicans were solidly behind Mr. Bush's nominee. Democrats said their votes were not so much for Mukasey as they were for restoring a leader to a Justice Department left adrift after Gonzales' resignation in September.

In the end, Mukasey was confirmed as the nation's 81st attorney general by a 53-40 vote. Six Democrats and one independent joined Republicans in sealing his confirmation.

The choice, according to one of those Democrats, was essentially between “whether to confirm Michael Mukasey as the next attorney general or whether to leave the Department of Justice without a real leader for the next 14 months,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California.

“This is the only chance we have,” she said, referring to Bush's threat to appoint an acting attorney general not subject to Senate confirmation.

But members of her own party didn't agree. Mukasey, his opponents argued, refused to say whether waterboarding is torture and put the onus on Congress to pass a law against the practice.

“This is like saying when somebody murders somebody with a a baseball bat and you say, 'We had a law against murder but we never mentioned baseball bats,”' said Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. “Murder is murder. Torture is torture.”

Being better than Gonzales or an acting attorney general is not enough qualification for the job, said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.

“The next attorney general must restore confidence in the rule of law,” he said. “We cannot afford to take the judgment of an attorney general who either does not know torture when he sees it or is willing to look the other way.”

The confirmation vote capped 10 months of scandal and resignations at the Justice Department. Mukasey's chief Democratic patron, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., drove the probe into the purge of nine federal prosecutors that helped push Gonzales out.

The debate came after a tense day of negotiations that at one point featured Majority Leader Harry Reid threatening to postpone Mukasey's confirmation until December. His confirmation had long been certainty despite the debate over waterboarding.

Waterboarding, used by interrogators to make someone feel as if he is going to drown, is banned by domestic law and international treaties. But U.S. law applies to Pentagon personnel and not the CIA. The administration won't say whether it has allowed the agency's employees to use it against terror detainees.

“The United States will not be viewed kindly if we confirm as chief law enforcement officer of this country someone who is unwilling or unable to recognize torture when he sees it,” said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat.

[one_american]

"The United States will not be viewed kindly if we confirm as chief law enforcement officer of this country someone who is unwilling or unable to recognize torture when he sees it."

- Sen. *** Durbin, D-Ill.

Here''s some torture for you, *** Durbin:

Stick your head up your butt and fight for air, you worthless Democrat!

[toolmangler-2009]

"The United States will not be viewed kindly if we confirm as chief law enforcement officer of this country someone who is unwilling or unable to recognize torture when he sees it."

- Sen. *** Durbin, D-Ill.


This man did the same thing I would have, He basically said "You tell me what the law is and ''I'' will enforce it". He has been appointed as an officer of the administration, not an Officer of Congress (the only ones that decide what the laws are).

[lastdance4]

Law Offices
CBS News

Explain this Sexual Perverted Statement by : One_American
___
"The United States will not be viewed kindly if we confirm as chief law enforcement officer
of this country someone who is unwilling or unable to recognize torture when he sees it."

- Sen. *** Durbin, D-Ill.
Here''''s some torture for you, *** Durbin:
Stick your head up your butt and fight for air, you worthless Democrat!
Posted by One_American at 09:42 PM : Nov 08, 2007

[cbs_oliver]

Mukasey said he thought it would be irresponsible to discuss torture since doing so could make interrogators and other government officials vulnerable to lawsuits.

Bank robbers and are probably wondering why he isn''t so concerned that they might go to jail.

Did anyone ask him if he is willing to admit that bank robbery is illegal?

It is a shame that people like Mukasey (spit), Dianne Feinstein (spit), Chuck Schumer (spit), and Arlen Specter (spit), cause America to be completely disgraced before God and the world.

[cdfoxtrot]

I don''t understand why the Dems. fold on every issue all the time. And the B.S. reasons they give. Amazing. They have a mandate from the US voting pubic to stop the war. The only tool they have is to refuse to fund it. They won''t use it but instead keep sending the moron-in-chief laughable funding bills that he vetoes until he gets exactly what he wants. They had the ability to stop this disaster of a nominee from being Attorney General. But instead they choose to back him on the bogus grounds that this is as good as the moron-in-chief would send their way. What kind of endorsement is that? How low can our standards go when we now have an Attorney General who isn''t sure what constitutes torture? Didn''t some of the chappies at Nuremburg say much the same kind of thing?

[dmhphils]

Man-made laws are trumped by God''s law. Hitler told the German military machine that the new law is to exterminate the Jews, and he had plenty of "yes" men to carry out and enforce that law and to later claim innocence because they were just "following orders."

We cannot sink further into the murky waters of men''s bright ideas of what is right and what is wrong without someone shouting, "we have lost our way", and begin again to grope for the light. God help us for the captain has been thrown overboard and we are taking on water fast.

[dmhphils]

We can all see it happening now, right before our eyes. Men in high places who cannot discern the difference between good and evil, holy and unholy, who make their judgements and then pass them on to the masses leaving them to reap the consequences.

Slowly, we descend into the darkness until the darkness is so thick it can be felt. Afterall, this is what we wanted, wasn''t it? A life without God? A life without God is a life without light.

We hear the leaders saying it over and over: "We are right! We are good! We are strong! We are forever! But somehow, the words are beginning to sound empty, like empty cans hitting the sidewalk.

We have left the Old Path, for surely, we thought, the old path is worn out and obsolete. And now, where are we? And where are we going? And who are these who lead us....? They seem like strangers to us now.

[dmhphils]

But U.S. law applies to Pentagon personnel and not the CIA. The administration won''t say whether it has allowed the agency''s employees to use it against terror detainees.
--------------------------------------------

A double-standard creates weakness in the pillars of government, and to build on compromised pillars with more lies, will result in eventual collapse of the structure.

We cannot compromise our foundation stones and still have the same structure, even for terrorism, lest we be tried and found wanting.

[likeabllunch]

'' ... there was first aid on the trail, followed by inkblot sport and puzzle, followed by sell art basketball, followed by the evolved book rental shop: the yseedsberry, created to replace book rental with local information exchange, computerized bulletin boards gave way to the internet which made finding local solutions to local problems and local answers to local questions difficult, a community center dedicated to local people shopping for local bargains or jobs or homework help made a tolerable idea for a replacement ... enter ''rally round the sick beds'': and now the 300 county shopping malls are a collection of homes where the sick beds converge and the vendors around the sick beds cutting and pasting their blooms and other inventorys before hiking / bussing on to the next shopping mall / village ... ''

'' ... the few and proud run scream and citate and the job is dangerous; yet, they are 99.9999 plus percent less likely to be injured or killed as a result of disciplinary action than a small child ... ''

'' ... there should be wide arrays of input devices for playing with screen pixels ... perhaps user friendly impromptu local / task specific web browsers could be employed to facilitate the creation and maintenance of masses of web pages for individual sites utilizing gui toolboxes of object oriented routines and pan and zoom you-are-here maps and impromptu task specific ''jargon keycode'' character systems and other languages ... ''

[likeabllunch]

'' ... i met god, she speaks to me by meddling in the lives of others, and then tells me that there is infinite divergence and that i am as much a god as is she, and that neither of us has any real power over each other or anyone else and vice versa ... if i''m hurt against my will, she says, then it is not truly against my will: there is inadequacy / uncertainty / etc in my heart, i''m having a bad dream, she says ... ''

[dmhphils]

This is like saying when somebody murders somebody with a a baseball bat and you say, ''We had a law against murder but we never mentioned baseball bats,%u201D'' said Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. %u201CMurder is murder. Torture is torture.%u201D
------------------------------------------------

Funny thing about truth: once it is distorted, we can never quite get a handle on it again.

[dmhphils]

Used to be the bad guys wore black hats and the good guys (that''s us) wore white hats. Nowadays, people don''t wear hats anymore, so you just gotta guess, or they just change hats depending on who they''re with.

Sure, the world is changing, but some things just don''t change, like sunrises and sunsets, blue sky, and nothing like gazing up at the stars on a clear cool moonless night. I guess that''s because man didn''t have anything to do with making any of those things, but everything man touches, the corruption of it is soon apparent. Man seems to have a proclivity for corruption that he pulls around like a cart on a rope. It is his nature.

[dmhphils]

%u201CHe felt that he could not make that pronouncement without placing people at risk to be sued or perhaps even criminally prosecuted,%u201D said Sen. Arlen Specter
--------------------------------------------------

So, he felt like he couldn''t tell the whole truth at that moment because it could get some people in the government sued or criminally prosecuted. Weasle is what we call that.

[tasmhs]

Mukasey was the best the Dems could have gotten from this administration. They do not have 60 votes to break a filibuster and they don''t have 2/3 majorities on the big issues like Iraq, etc. Bush has nothing to lose and he is going to veto everything and he can make it stick. Schumer said it best when he said that the best thing to do is work on getting a Democrat elected President in 2008. All this whining and hand-wringing on this site shows a laughable grasp of reality. The Dems cave because they have to cave, they don''t have the votes, end of story. Stop your whining and get working on a Presidential Campaign.

[jowand]

Good man Mukasey, will make a good AG

[adian1-2009]

Politics, politics, politics! More of the same. Principles were all absent. Clinton, Obama and Biden opted for being absent. Also Dodd, but that one has no chance. Then comes the California Feinstein with a bogus excuse for voting in favor. And last but not least, Schumer. This one takes the cake. What a comedy!

[jjp735i]

And Bush gets yet another pass and will continue as he always has. The Dems are useless.

[trillion1]

bush wouldn''t have picked him if he were going to enforce the laws.

[soldat44]

And Bush gets yet another pass and will continue as he always has. The Dems are useless.

Posted by jjp735i at 05:57 AM : Nov 09, 2007

+1

[g-gfather]

We no longer have government of,for,and by the people.We are watching the freefall of our country for the lack of moral leadership.Exercise what liberty we have left by rallying to remove the tyranny that now distroys our nation in Washington.Come home Americans, your home land needs you.WE are being attacked from within by the only power tyrannies have FEAR.Where have the courageous gone ??? to the wars of tyranny/Bush.I am desperately worried for AMERICA.Come home to her now.Greatgrandfather.

[cbs_oliver]

"Besides Schumer and Feinstein, Democrats voting to confirm Mukasey were: Sens. Evan Bayh of Indiana, Tom Carper of Delaware, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Ben Nelson of Nebraska. Of the Senate''s two independents, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut voted for confirmation and Bernie Sanders of Vermont voted against.

Not voting were Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden of Delaware, Hillary Clinton of New York, Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Barack Obama of Illinois."

How low can we sink into depravity and deceit? Every day seems to bring a new low.

We need new Democrats. Then maybe we can hope to get new Republicans.

[sleepyric]

I think judge Mukasey should try waterboarding. Maybe that will help him make up his mind.

[taotxzen]

Evangelicals - Pro life, pro life threatening torture.

A group of distinguished intelligence and military officers, diplomats, and law enforcement professionals delivered an urgent message to the chairman and the ranking minority member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, calling on them to hold the nomination of Judge Michael Mukasey until he takes a clear position on the legality of waterboarding.

Their message strongly endorses the view of former judge advocates general that waterboarding %u201Cis inhumane, is torture, is illegal.%u201D The intelligence veterans added it is also a notoriously unreliable way to acquire accurate information.

They noted that the factors cited by the president and Mukasey as obstacles to his giving an opinion on waterboarding can be easily solved by briefing Mukasey on waterboarding and on C.I.A. interrogation methods.

The intelligence veterans noted that during their careers they frequently had to walk a thin line between morality and expediency, all the while doing their best to abide by the values the majority of Americans have held in common over the years. They appealed to Senators Pat Leahy and Arlen Specter to rise to the occasion and discharge their responsibility to defend those same values.

And nothing happened.

[dmhphils]

But U.S. law applies to Pentagon personnel and not the CIA. The administration won''''t say whether it has allowed the agency''''s employees to use it against terror detainees.
--------------------------------------
------

A double-standard creates weakness in the pillars of government, and to build on compromised pillars with more lies, will result in eventual collapse of the structure.

We cannot compromise our foundation stones and still have the same structure, even for terrorism, lest we be tried and found wanting.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by noseonurface at 02:06 AM : Nov 09, 2007

[dmhphils]

Not voting were Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden of Delaware, Hillary Clinton of New York, Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Barack Obama of Illinois. All four had said they opposed Mukasey''s nomination.
---------------------------------------------

I guess removal of the spine is a prerequisite for being qualified to be a senator today, regardless of your party.

[omnibus66]

Emperor Bush has yet to appoint anyone to any office who is not a lackey, and this is no exception. He now knows that he can continue to ignore the law as well as the Constitution, and do as he d-mn well pleases. The Democrats are a joke, but the Republicans and the Bush administration are the number one threat to the future of this nation.

[cbs_oliver]

"But U.S. law applies to Pentagon personnel and not the CIA."

This is false. Waterboarding is a war crime. Nobody is free from prosecution for waterboarding.

Even congressional bills and Presidential declarations may not be able to change this.

[mbcsmith]

Emperor Bush has yet to appoint anyone to any office who is not a lackey, and this is no exception. He now knows that he can continue to ignore the law as well as the Constitution, and do as he d-mn well pleases. The Democrats are a joke, but the Republicans and the Bush administration are the number one threat to the future of this nation.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by omnibus66 at 08:12 AM : Nov 09, 2007

Whine, moan, whine, moan... LOL... The Libs just don''t get it.

[excoachken]

Shame on Schumer and Feinstein. I would say more, but when the spying guys see this, I will probably be waterboarded.

[dmhphils]

Mukasey has called waterboarding personally %u201Crepugnant,%u201D and in a letter to senators said he did not know enough about how it has been used to define it as torture.
--------------------------
Why would Mukasey describe waterboarding as "repugnant" if it didn''t qualify as torture? And notice that he did not say he didn''t know enough about waterboarding to define it as torture, but he said, "he didn''t know enough about how IT WAS USED to define it as torture."

Its either torture or its not......come on! It is spine check time! These politicians are so clever with that piece of meat in their mouths.

[dmhphils]

%u201CHe felt that he could not make that pronouncement without placing people at risk to be sued or perhaps even criminally prosecuted,%u201D said Sen. Arlen Specter
--------------------------------------
------------

So, he felt like he couldn''''t tell the whole truth at that moment because it could get some people in the government sued or criminally prosecuted. Weasle is what we call that.

[hungry1968]

Two comments:

1. Bush to Congress and the Senate: "Good lapdogs!! Roll over!! Sit!! Beg!!"


2. "Not voting were Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden of Delaware, Hillary Clinton of New York, Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Barack Obama of Illinois. All four had said they opposed Mukasey''s nomination."

Not voting on contentious issues, because you are running for president and don''t want to end up on the losing side of a vote, should be enough to legally disqualify them from the presidential election. You were elected to cast your vote on behalf of your constituents - DO YOUR FRIGGIN'' JOB!!!!

[sendreidpelo]

tough manure, brain dead left fascist bozos -

now go and have a good cry and vote for an even more pathetic Fascist - Ron Paul, who never met an Islamonazi he didn''t like.

Don''t forget who supports Paul - Justina Raimondo and the Ga-ye boys who supported Pat Buchanan. Ahhhh, but they will be at home with Pariser and the MoveOn.Org Hitlerjugend.

And so will also of you bozo hyenas who scream
"sieg heil"...

Mukasey as Attorney General. Nice. Enjoy the ride, and remember, Teddy Kennedy does have either a waterboarding or prefrontal lobotomy session in store for YOU.

[simonsez40]

Whine, moan, whine, moan... LOL... The Libs just don''''t get it.


Posted by mbcsmith

Oh we get it - it''s called CRONYISM - putting all your crook buddies into positions of power so they''ll protect your lying arse and keep the you out of prison....we get President Bushie clearly.....

You''re the one that doesn''t get it - go down with the Titanic because its coming!

[hungry1968]

Mukasey as Attorney General. Nice. Enjoy the ride, and remember, Teddy Kennedy does have either a waterboarding or prefrontal lobotomy session in store for YOU.

Posted by SendReidPelo at 08:46 AM : Nov 09, 2007



You probably said the same thing about Gonzalez!!

HAHA!! Loser!!

[mbcsmith]

Oh we get it - it''''s called CRONYISM - putting all your crook buddies into positions of power so they''''ll protect your lying arse and keep the you out of prison....we get President Bushie clearly.....

You''''re the one that doesn''''t get it - go down with the Titanic because its coming!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by simonsez40 at 08:48 AM : Nov 09, 2007

Now you''re just a LYING LIB. Mukasey was chosen specificle because he had no ties to the President. Get your facts straight. Oh wait. You''re a LIB. Facts don''t matter to you. LIAR!

[afmca]

Another sad day for America ... just add it to the long list of sorrows that started seven years ago.

[oscarez]

"Mukasey has called waterboarding personally %u201Crepugnant,%u201D and in a letter to senators said he did not know enough about how it has been used to define it as torture."

He must be talking about kinky se*x when he says "did not know enough how it has been used".

[abbe91]

"Mukasey was chosen specificle because he had no ties to the President.
Posted by mbcsmith at 09:00 AM : Nov 09, 2007"

Same for Harrier Miers ... LOL

[myidoncbs]

"Mukasey ... put the onus on Congress to pass a law against the practice [of waterboarding]."

And in saying so, he demonstrated conclusively that he is NOT fit to be Attorney General! Waterboarding is ALREADY defined as illegal torture in the USA. It is against US and International law and it violates several treaties we have signed. There is NO NEED for yet another law to make waterboarding illegal!

This is one more example of how the repugs count on the ignorance of the masses to get away with deflecting blame from themselves and on to their opponents, those opponents being the whole world of sane, rational human beings!

Any person who causes or commits torture of another human being is a sick, evil, sub-human animal. Such "people" do not deserve to be a part of any society. After WW2, the torturers were rounded up, tried as war criminals, and executed. One day, the same will happen to all of the sick MF-ing repugs, along with anyone and everyone who enabled their evil.

[walt1944-2009]

The Great Emperor Bush II is pleased that his nominee for AG has been approved by the evil, cowardly Democrats in Congress. The Emperor see this as a VICTORY for HIM despite what could be a re-emerging Congress starting to flex what muscle it has (the Emperor is still sulking about having his veto of the water bill overturned!).

Now that the Emperor has "his man" in the AG office once again, the Emperor can turn to more pressing issues such as getting more money out of Congress to continue on his wars, plan new owns, and "support the troops"! Naturally, the Emperor Bush is confident he will get his way, even though the evil Democrats want to force him to start bring the soldiers home (and leave Blackwater in Iraq!).

The Emperor feels the best way of "supporting the troops" is to keep them in the Middle East and NOT bring them home!

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!

[sendreidpelo]

Walt,

Do us all a favor -

Step on a land mine or meet a blade across your scrawny throat somewhere - and join your beloved Hitler.

In other words, drop dead, you stupid Nazi bozo.

Tee Hee.

[trillion1]

bush has never chosen anyone who wasn''t first a lacky and second incompetent.

[mbcsmith]

Is it difficult typing with your knuckles ----- or does your drool serve as a lubricant?

Neoconservatism is a mental illness characterized by reality distortions, denial and sadistic tendencies. Seek help, my friend. And, don%u2019t listen to the %u201Cvoices.%u201D



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by psy_war at 09:27 AM : Nov 09, 2007

LOL...LOL again...LIBS are such idiots.

[abbe91]

"Step on a land mine or meet a blade across your scrawny throat somewhere - and join your beloved Hitler.
Posted by SendReidPelo at 09:33 AM : Nov 09, 2007"

Please show the example.

[nexgen99]

Commonsense prevails

[secundus2]

Sen. Leahy''s stupidity gives us all one solid reason to support Vermont''s secession. He ought to be at work trying to pass laws specifically prohibiting harsh interrogation techniques, instead of bloviating about baseball bats. An intent to cause grievous bodily harm is not necessarily present in waterboarding, so it ought to be be banned (if that is Congress'' position) along with head-slapping and sleep-deprivation whether they are torture or not, whether they are cruel or not. What can''t the moron figure out? His colleaugue Feingold has filed such a bill. Get to work on it.

[one_american]

Don''t you find it strange and ironic -

the liberals didn''t care whatsoever about how the cruel dictator Saddam Hussein tortured and killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis before the war, and still don''t care that it happened...but now all they care about is protecting terrorist murderers from having any harsh treatment, in order to protect Iraqis, Americans, and indeed protect the world from their Islamic Fascist campaign to dominate the world.

Liberals are obviously deliriously stupid.

Long live the principles and the fortitude of true leaders like President Bush.

And a speedy road to ruin for the ignorant liberal moonbat Bush-haters.

[bogusbones]

Dear One American - America, the land you profess to love and honor has been based on a moral and ethical platform. For the U.S. to stoop to the same violent and tortuous activities is against all the principals we are supposed to stand for. If you approve of these atrocities, maybe you should go (with all your blind neo con/facist colleagues) and start up some Nazi country of your own. We wouldn''t be in this predicament if your fearless leadership hadn''t gotten us involved where we had absolutely no business being.

If this dialog is too deep for you, go back to the second grade.

[one_american]

Don''''t you find it strange and ironic -

the liberals didn''''t care whatsoever about how the cruel dictator Saddam Hussein tortured and killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis before the war, and still don''''t care that it happened...but now all they care about is protecting terrorist murderers from having any harsh treatment, in order to protect Iraqis, Americans, and indeed protect the world from their Islamic Fascist campaign to dominate the world.

Liberals are obviously deliriously stupid.

Long live the principles and the fortitude of true leaders like President Bush.

And a speedy road to ruin for the ignorant liberal moonbat Bush-haters.