Sarcasm doesn’t translate well to text, so let me say it right out: I’m being sarcastic. Michael Mukasey, the controversial attorney general candidate who refused to classify waterboarding as torture, was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday. Let’s allow Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer explain in his own words why this is okay (taken from C&L):
When Judge Mukasey came before the Senate judiciary committee last month he refused to state waterboarding as torture. That was unsatisfactory, that was wrong. That will be a blemish on judge Mukasey’s distinguished career for as long as he lives. But he has made it clear that if Congress passed further legislation in this area, the President would have no legal authority to ignore it…
This has to be one of the saddest, most pathetic statements I’ve ever heard, and that’s saying a lot. So, if Congress writes a new law that unequivocally states that waterboarding is torture, and if it gains majorities in both houses, and if it survives a Republican filibuster, and if Bush doesn’t veto it, and if Bush doesn’t just write a signing statement saying he’s going to ignore the law anyway, then our new attorney general will agree that pretending to drown someone to get information out of them isn’t really acceptable.
