Do any of these Senators have consciences?
Sherman, let's get into the Wayback Machine and return to Sept 18, 2007. The Washington Post writes:
In Mr. Mukasey’s 18 years on the federal bench in Manhattan, his reputation among prosecutors and defense lawyers alike was that of a fair-minded judge who did nothing to suggest that his personal political views played any role in his rulings.
Mary Jo White, the United States attorney in Manhattan under President Bill Clinton, said Monday that as attorney general, Mr. Mukasey would bring "instantaneous institutional respect" to the Justice Department "because of how he is, who he is and what he is." Mr. Morgenthau said of the nomination, "I think it’s an excellent choice, and I think he should, if given a free hand, do a lot to restore integrity and public confidence in the Department of Justice."
Andrew G. Patel, a lawyer who represented a defendant in a lengthy trial before Judge Mukasey involving a 1993 conspiracy to blow up New York City landmarks and other crimes, said he had "enormous respect" for the judge despite their frequent disagreements.
"His sense of fairness and due process — it’s more than intellectual," said Mr. Patel, also a member of the team representing Jose Padilla, the American citizen found guilty last month of terrorism conspiracy charges. "It’s really down to the genetic level. It’s in his DNA."
Other reassurances from the Sen Chuck Schumer of New York:
"While he is certainly conservative, Judge Mukasey seems to be the kind of nominee who would put rule of law first and show independence from the White House, our most important criteria," said Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, a senior Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
As usual, Jonathan Turley was around to provide sanity and reason:
What is truly astonishing is that the Democrats on the committee are apparently willing to look beyond the nominee's evasive, misleading testimony. Democratic leaders are still supporting the nominee as if torture is some marginal or ambiguous question. Even Democrats such as Chuck Schumer, who have been vocal in their criticism of the use of torture, have showered Mukasey with compliments for his "independence," as if an independent mind means that one no longer needs a moral backbone. It seems that with polls running against the GOP, Democrats hope to win the World Series without ever leaving the dugout: They want to denounce torture but won't expend the political capital it would take to fight a time-consuming and risky confirmation battle.
But they're making a mistake. Whatever his qualifications (and Mukasey has many stellar qualifications), even a vague, ill-defined stance on torture should be a barrier to confirmation -- particularly because it has been the defining issue of this administration. The fact is that, even though the White House has heralded Mukasey's deep religious views as an Orthodox Jew, he has flunked the greatest and easiest moral question put to him.
Like Charlie Brown kicking the football, a number of Dems continued to confidently run towards Lucy, expecting a different outcome...
Oh Look--Recent headlines:
Mukasey: The Law is what the DOJ says it is.
Mukasey: I won't invesitgate torture.
Mukasey: I won't investigate wiretapping.
Mukasey: I won't enforce contempt citations.
Let's call them out again:
Feinstein
Bayh
Carper
Landrieu
Nelson
Schumer
As John Stewart so eloquently stated last night in his comment on Mitt Romney's suspension speech:
Fuck You!