In his attorney general confirmation hearings, Michael Mukasey refused to say that waterboarding is torture, that torture was unacceptable, and that the president must obey the law. He should be given no second chances. All he has to do now is say some meaningless words, and senate democrats say they will confirm him. Hearings aren't about getting people to say things on the record. As George Bush's raping of the constitution has proven, a promise to abide by the law is meaningless. Hearings are about understanding how the nominee's mind works, and how he is likely to behave. Mukasey showed us everything that we wanted to know when he refused to answer the questions he was asked. For that reason alone, he should not be given a second chance.
What good is a meaningless promise now? Who cares if he now says the words he was told to say by senate democrats? He showed us what he thinks in his confirmation hearing. Words are cheap, especially when your refusal to say such cheap words may result in you not being confirmed. He has all the incentive now to say something he doesn't believe. What does he have to lose? The fact that he was a part of the campaign of the ultra-authoritarian and anti-constitutionalist Giuliani tells a lot about his thinking.
"Advice and consent" means that the senate has to be independent and free-thinking. It isn't Bush's right to have any attorney general he wants. Hell, it isn't even his right to have any attorney general at all. The increasing number of executive and judicial confirmations getting through the senate with almost no "nay" votes shows the increasing meaninglessness of the senate confirmation process. The senate is turning into an inferior, ceremonial institution. And it is corrupting the entire framework that the constitution lays out.
Democrats must stand up for American principles, the rule of law, and the constitution. Mukasey blew his chance, and he does not deserve another one.