In his decision yesterday to vote in support of Judge Mukasey's nomination as our next Attorney General, my former Senator from New York, Charles Schumer, has lost all credibiiity and brought shame to himself, his Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. and all the other Democrats who will vote Nay next Tuesday.
What follows below is the e-mail that I sent to Senator Schumer's web site.
To Senator Schumer:
As someone who lived in NY for 38 years, and someone who voted for you twice, I feel more than justified in writing to you.
I can't express adequately enough how incredulous, angry and deeply disappointed I am in your decision to vote Yay today to the Mukasey nomination for AG. I can't read your mind. Perhaps your ego forced your hand, since you were the person to put forward Mukasey's name to the White House as a compromise candidate. Perhaps the judge is a personal friend/supporter? Whatever your reason, what is crystal clear to me and millions of others, is that you let personal/political considerations trump integrity and doing the right thing as a US Senator. This appointment should have been a no-brainer. Mukasey, in refusing to answer a simple question: "Is waterboarding torture?" confirmed his allegiance to the White House. Are you afraid that Bush will make an even worse appointment? The Judiciary Committee can keep turning them down, even until election day, if necessary. We have an Acting Attorney General who can't be any worse than Gonzalez.
In deciding to support him, you have lost all credibility with me, and with, I am sure, the vast number of NY residents who voted for you. Your vote bespeaks cowardice and brings shame on you, the Judiciary Committee, its Chairman and all of your Democratic colleagues who will vote Nay next Tuesday. I'm reminded of the comment: "Republicans always show party loyalty and that's one reason they win." Worst of all, your cynical stance negates all that we Americans hold dear: truth, justice, respect for the law, morality, and adherence to international laws that have been on the books for decades against torture. You are aware(and so is Judge Mukasey) that, after WWII. we prosecuted the Japanese for as much as 15 years of hard labor for exactly this kind of torture. In approving Judge Mukasey, you are showing your approval for a vile administration which has scoffed at the Constitution and the laws of decent people everywhere.
If you wonder why Congress has an approval rating of a mere 11%, you can now point to yourself as a contributor to that abysmal number. You have dealt a terrible blow to the Democratic Party and all that it stands for . We will not forget! Mark my words: this issue will not disappear just because your candidate gets the job.