I think we are long past the time when ANY of this Administration's nominees, gets the benefit of the doubt.
And 'benefit of the doubt' is EXACTLY what the Hon. Mukasey is asking for.
'Waterboarding' as torture, is a 'no-brainer'. The list of 'authorities' who have written same is longer than a screen page; but I'll give you another one:
http://smallwarsjournal.com/...
Hence, I invite you to read the Email I sent Sen. Leahy today, which appears after the break. I strongly encourage you to notify Sen. Leahy & Specter that they need to hold off a vote, until they get the 'yes' or 'no' answer that this simple question provides for.
After all, the Hon. Mukasey is a longtime judge...it's not like forming opinions based upon long standing public information should be difficult, nor time-consuming project.
Dear Sen. Leahy,
As an active Democrat, I am Emailing you, as I can’t believe that Mukasey’s answer of "I don’t know if it’s torture until I see it",
can possibly be allowed to fly.
Waterboarding isn’t murky; it’s definitively torture by any standardized definition
(and we know Cheney & Addington fall way outside the bounds of any standard).
In essence, Mukasey is arguing that the WH may have SECRETLY discovered
some form of waterboarding that is not torture, and he doesn’t want to preclude that possibility.
Which is kinda like arguing against Vincent Gambino:
"Are those magic grits? Are we to believe that grits cook on your stove in 5-Min. when, for the rest of the grit eating world, it takes 20-Min.?"
There is no brand of grits that take less than 20-Min., and there is no form of 'waterboarding' that's not torture (but if you have one, please share that with us).
I suggest the Committee tell the Hon. Mukasey, that if he needs more time to 'study' the 'waterboarding' question, go ahead; but NO VOTE will be scheduled until he's prepared to give a 'Yes' or 'No' answer.