Josh Nelson

A Vote for Mukasey is a Vote for Torture

by Josh Nelson  ::  Filed Under U.S. Domestic Issues  ::  November 5th, 2007 @ 12:40 pm EST

Waterboarding is torture, torture is unamerican. Or, to simplify, waterboarding is Unamerican.

Everyone in America, especially those in the administration, knows that waterboarding is torture. As is normally the case when the administration is faced with facts it doesn’t like, it gets rid of them. In 2004, when acting assistant attorney general Daniel Levin told the white house that waterboarding was illegal, he was forced out.

Unfortunately, Bush’s nominee for Attorney General, Judge Mukasey, refused to say whether or not he considered waterboarding torture. I believe Sheldon Whitehouse spoke for millions of Americans when he noted that Mukasey’s answer was disappointing. Perhaps Mukasey should try waterboarding. Then he might be able to say whether or not he considers it torture.

While the Bush Administration would like the Senate to confirm now and ask questions later, Salon’s War Room points out that if Mukasey is confirmed and subsequently briefed on the program, the White House will then prevent him from testifying before Congress. So essentially, the White House has created a catch-22 in which we’ll never get a straight answer from Mukasey, and some Democrats, predictably, have fallen for it.

As Jason mentioned the other day, Democrats Diane Feinstein and Chuck Schumer, key members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, have pledged their support for Mukasey. Several other key Senators, such as Obama, Dodd, Clinton, and Feingold, have done the right thing and come out in opposition to the judge’s nomination.

With the Committee vote now scheduled for Tuesday, and many in the media touting the confirmation as inevitable, it is essential that we contact the remaining members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and urge them to oppose Mukasey’s nomination to be Attorney General.

Please, call your Senator now and tell them to oppose Mike Mukasey’s nomination, since he is clearly dodging the issue on waterboarding.

  • Edward M. Kennedy
    D-MASSACHUSETTS
    (202) 224-4543
  • Arlen Specter
    RANKING MEMBER, R-PENNSYLVANIA
    (202) 224-4254
  • Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
    D-DELAWARE
    (202) 224-5521
  • Orrin G. Hatch
    R-UTAH
    (202) 224-5251
  • Herb Kohl
    D-WISCONSIN
    (202) 224-5653
  • Charles E. Grassley
    R-IOWA
    (202) 224-3744
  • Dianne Feinstein
    D-CALIFORNIA
    (202) 224-3841
  • Jon Kyl
    R-ARIZONA
    (202) 224-4521
  • Russell D. Feingold
    D-WISCONSIN
    (202) 224-5323
  • Jeff Sessions
    R-ALABAMA
    (202) 224-4124
  • Charles E. Schumer
    D-NEW YORK
    (202) 224-6542
  • Lindsey Graham
    R-SOUTH CAROLINA
    (202) 224-5972
  • Richard J. Durbin
    D-ILLINOIS
    (202) 224-2152
  • John Cornyn
    R-TEXAS
    (202) 224-2934
  • Benjamin L. Cardin
    D-MARYLAND
    (202) 224-4524
  • Sam Brownback
    R-KANSAS
    (202) 224-6521
  • Sheldon Whitehouse
    D-RHODE ISLAND
    (202) 224-2921
  • Tom Coburn
    R-OKLAHOMA
    (202) 224-5754

The Seminal News Feed

Blast kills 10 at Shi'ite funeral in NW Pakistan
Friday, 21 November 2008, 7:40 am
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan, Nov 21 (Reuters) - A bomb attack killed at least 10 people and wounded 40 at the funeral for a Shi'ite Muslim on Friday in the northwest Pakistani town of Dera Ismail Khan.

Blast targets Shi'ite Muslim funeral in NW Pakistan
Friday, 21 November 2008, 6:29 am
ISLAMABAD, Nov 21 (Reuters) - A blast targeted the funeral of a Shia Muslim man gunned down earlier on Friday in the northwest Pakistani town of Dera Ismail Khan, and casualties were feared among the. […]

WRAPUP 5-Major shippers skirt Gulf of Aden to avoid pirates
Friday, 21 November 2008, 1:00 am
* Maersk and other major shippers divert ships around Cape

DISCUSSION

6 RESPONSES to “A Vote for Mukasey is a Vote for Torture”

J-Ro says  ::  November 5th, 2007 @ 12:49 pm EST

Senator Durbin’s office told me he was planning on voting no. That’s one!

Josh says  ::  November 5th, 2007 @ 1:10 pm EST

Here is how the numbers break down.

The committee has 10 dems, 9 republicans. With Feinstein and Schumer voting with the Republicans, we’ll need, at minimum, 2 republicans to vote with the Dems.

Alternately, a changed vote from Schumer or Feinstein and 1 republican crossing over would do the trick.

Josh says  ::  November 5th, 2007 @ 1:11 pm EST

Apparently Keith Olbermann will be doing a special comment on this tonight.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/5/145055/009

jimbo78255 says  ::  November 5th, 2007 @ 2:02 pm EST

Okay, we in the US felt we had high standards. The bad guys attacked us. We lowered our standards. They win.

There is what is right, and there is what is wrong. Torture is always wrong. Always.

libhomo says  ::  November 5th, 2007 @ 6:56 pm EST

If Schumer and DiFi ever ask me for money or a vote, they will be out of luck.

Scumbags!


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