Breaking: Leahy to oppose Mukasey.
Breaking: Leahy to oppose Mukasey.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) today announced that he will vote against Michael Mukasey’s attorney general nomination, “potentially derailing his confirmation.” “No American should need a classified briefing to determine whether waterboarding is torture,” said Leahy, who will hold a press conference later in the day. Four other Democrats on the panel have also said they will vote against Mukasey.
UPDATE: From Leahy’s statement:
I am eager to restore strong leadership and independence to the Department of Justice. I like Michael Mukasey. I wish that I could support his nomination. But I cannot. America needs to be certain and confident of the bedrock principle — deeply embedded in our laws and our values — that no one, not even the President, is above the law. Accordingly, when the Judiciary Committee considers this nomination on Tuesday, I must vote no on this nomination.
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Hoorah for Leahy! If Mukasey can’t decide whether waterboarding is torture, then he doesn’t have the credentials necessary to function as the highest lawyer in the country! We don’t need another buffoon like gonzo, that’s for sure.
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:17 pmSo what if Mukasey’s nomination is delayed – we never did have a able Attorney General the entire time Gonzo was in office. So what matters now?
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:17 pmBush will recess appoint Mukasey, count on it. Then we’ll see if the Democrats have been completely neutered or not.
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:18 pmJebus….this ought to be a friggin’ NO BRAINER.
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:18 pmSo why vote him out of committee? doesn’t the committee leadership have other important business to attend to than allowing yet another unqualified nomination to get voted in over their non-recommendation.
Come on, folks. We all know what the outcome will be. He’ll get voted out with disapproval and he’ll get voted in by the hair of his chiny-chin-chin. It’s like Charlie Brown and Lucy.
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:18 pmCALL YOUR SENATORS AND DEMAND THEM TO STOP THIS
NOMINATION!!!!
Mukasey CANNOT BE THE next sychophant, torture loving
Bushie in the White House…
Please tell your senators NO to Mukasey!
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:19 pmLeahy’s the man
http://youtube.com/watch?v=xssarw2cQ7I
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:19 pmYes, and in addition to not voting him out of committee, someone needs to take up a cot in the Senate for the next year and not allow it to go into recess.
If I’ve figured this out (and I’ve never held elected office or much bother with Robert’s Rules of Order), then don’t you think someone in the Democratic leadership should have as well.
USE THE TOOLS AT YOUR DISPOSAL. Or fail, and have all those tools taken away.
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:20 pmThey had to wait and think about it? This should have been obvious from the get go.
Basic rule here with GW666 and his criminal band of thugs -
IF GW666 wants another cronie in this Fascist administration then it is bad for the USA.
Buck Fush
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:21 pmWhy should the country be worried about not having an AG for another year?It’s pretty obvious that we’d be better off without a President and Vice President.
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:22 pm#6:
It’s the Democrats on the Judiciary committee that matter. In order to stop the nomination you need two things: All the Dems on the committee to vote no on Tuesday *and* the thumbs down nomination to be prevented from reaching the Senate floor. If *any* Dem votes yes on the nomination (I’m thinking of Feinstein here) then it automatically goes to the Senate for a vote, where he will get confirmed.
I don’t have high hopes here. Bush will, once again, get exactly what he wants, Leahy’s posturing notwithstanding.
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:23 pm#10 Menehune: I could not agree more.
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:24 pmso I take it Feinstein hasn’t said one way or t’uther?
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:25 pmNo, she hasn’t. And I don’t trust her.
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:27 pmhmmmm frosty….
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:27 pmI smells danger…
//grins grimly
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:28 pmand not the dangerous deliciousness of a frosty cupcake either….
:)
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:28 pmWhy let this administration have an Attorney General anyhow – they’ve shown no indication that the law had any influence on their actions? Don’t give them even the color of legitimacy. Sign up volunteers to stay in Congressional session to stop a recess appointment.
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:29 pmSo, can his Nomination possibly die in Committee?
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:29 pmHa!
:D
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:29 pm“So, can his Nomination possibly die in Committee?”
It can, but only if every Democrat votes against him. And even then it can go to the Senate floor for a vote unless Reid stops it. And even then, he could be a recess appointment. :/
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:30 pm#10 I agree with you, anyone promoted by Bush will do Bush’s bidding. Truly until the DOJ is an independent department we just get a Gonza duplicate. Fitzgereald might fit, but I think he caved when prosecuting the Plame case.
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:30 pmI vote for Frosty Cupcaake to be the next AG. I know absolutely nothing about Frosty, and have absolutely no idea about Frosty’s social or political views.
But, I DID stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. And from what I gather, that makes Frosty just as qualified as Mukasey, whom we know nothing about.
Quick Question Frosty:Is waterboarding torture?
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:32 pm:23
//laughs
Yes, with a doubt it’s torture. And my political platform would include more sprinkles for everyone!
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:34 pmGuess it is up to Schumer and Feinstein now.
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:35 pmwith a doubt it’s torture!!
SHILL.. HAHAHA.. I caught you, Gonzo wanna be!!!!
*snicker*
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:36 pmKeltoi, do you believe that President Bush should be able to decide which laws he follows and which he breaks? How about a President Hillary Clinton? Can she decide to overlook certain laws if she becomes president in your view?
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:37 pmmmmmMMMMMmmmmm
sprinkles? who cares if Frosty tortures?
It’s torture to not have sprinkles!!!GIMMEGIMMEGIMME!
btw, I’m thinking of having CIA Swimming lessons. Does the YMCA offer those?
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:38 pmHe’s dodging the question isn’t he?
Comment by DigDug — November 2, 2007 @ 2:01 pm
And Feinstein is spinning as fast as she can to avoid her own little criminal issues back home. My guess is she is trying to cut a backdoor deal that will get her and her hubby off th hook is she doesn’t oppose Mukasey
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:39 pmCurse the inability to edit. Apologies.
Without a doubt it’s torture.
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:43 pmI heard there were sprinkles in this thread.
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:43 pm#26
//laughs some more
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:43 pmLeahy will turn as soon as Bush offers something he wants, he fell all over himself last week with Condi apologizing that she had to explain Blackwater. Just another flip flopper.
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:43 pmYes, with a doubt it’s torture. And my political platform would include more sprinkles for everyone!
Comment by Frosty Cupcake
I love sprinkles…
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:44 pm“I heard there were sprinkles in this thread.”
“I love sprinkles…”
Who doesn’t love sprinkles? Sprinkles all around!
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:46 pmI am willing to bet that in the end, the Democrats will wimp out.
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:47 pmwheeeeee! Do you have chololate AND rainbow sprinkles?(It’s the ONLY way to get elected nowadays…)
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:47 pmEasily mistaken for a spine ~ but don’t be fooled.
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:48 pm4letter-wait, the Sprinkles are easily mistaken for a spine?
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:49 pm“Do you have chocolate AND rainbow sprinkles?(It’s the ONLY way to get elected nowadays…)”
Sadly, no. I have pastel flower sprinkles, black and purple and orange Halloween sprinkles and red hearts sprinkles. I also have lavender sugar and pink sugar, technically *not* sprinkles, but yummy goodness nonetheless!
Can I still count on your vote?
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:51 pmwell, that’s a relief. i really didn’t think he had it in him…. oh, chuckie. what’s your vote.
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:51 pmI’m off for errands. Ciao everyone.
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:57 pmI for one hope that this buttplug gets out of the committee and to full vote. I can’t think of a better campaign than to show Americans which of these Repugnicunt pukes vote in favor of torture.
November 2nd, 2007 at 3:16 pmwelllll Frosty, can you come to my 250 dollar a plate fundraisre? I f you do, I’ll do whatever you want. I can even get Lindsay Graham to lick your-um…….nevermind..
November 2nd, 2007 at 3:18 pmWOW!
A Democrat with a backbone!
(ouch!)
pinching myself to make sure i’m awake
November 2nd, 2007 at 3:42 pmI truly wish that I could believe some kind of rescue is at hand here, but I’m afraid I’m much more closely aligned with Greenwald’s point of view. Simply because it is factual, sadly.
“Mukasey’s nomination and the sudden opposition to “waterboarding”
On one level, it is, I suppose, a good sign that there is some opposition to the confirmation of Michael Mukasey due to what ought to be his completely unacceptable positions on torture and more generally on executive power. But it’s difficult to avoid some deep ambivalence about the whole spectacle.
It is absolutely the case that Mukasey is a True Believer in all of the most extreme positions of the Bush administration regarding presidential power. That has been clear from the beginning. It is why he was chosen. After all, as a federal judge, he ruled that the President has the power to detain American citizens on U.S. soil indefinitely without ever having to charge them with a crime — a position he more or less repeated on the first day of his confirmation hearing.
There is no more extreme expression of radical executive power theories than that, yet then-Judge Mukasey expressly embraced it in the Jose Padilla case, only to be reversed by the Second Circuit (though indirectly affirmed by a far-right panel of the Fourth Circuit). So all of this sudden, feigned surpise about how radical Mukasey is seems like a great deal of pretense. Senate Democrats were more than willing to wave him along even knowing all of that. ”
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/
November 2nd, 2007 at 3:54 pmRecess appt!! Go Mr. Bush! History will remember the President as someone who took the fight to the terrorists. TP will be remembered as a bunch of nutjob 9/11 truthers who fought the spread of democracy at every turn.
Comment by Liberals Are Filled With Hate — November 2, 2007 @ 3:53 pm
You don’t even know the meaning of the word “democracy.” Or freedom, liberty, justice, U.S. Constitution, or the Bill of Rights. You are supporting a dictator who is destroying this country and who the world sees as threatening world peace more than OBL. Bush will be remembered by “history,” (if any of us survive) as the spoiled, petulant, mentally unbalanced monster that he is.
November 2nd, 2007 at 4:03 pmTP will be remembered as a bunch of nutjob 9/11 truthers who fought the spread of democracy at every turn.
Comment by Liberals Are Filled With Hate — November 2, 2007 @ 3:53 pm
Now that is some zany stuff there. You are sort of weird aren’t you. If TP folks are opposed to the spread of democracy who do you believe is for it?
November 2nd, 2007 at 4:07 pmthe world sees as threatening world peace more than OBL
Comment by impeachcheneythenbush
In that same survey SATAN was less of a threat than GW666.
Now for something really stupid -
“ANY Comment by Liberals Are Filled With Hate”
Buck Fush
November 2nd, 2007 at 4:27 pmLiberals are Filled with Hate . . . this one is . . . for small-minded, simpletons like yourself who cannot believe that someone would bother to criticize in the hopes of improving policies that are not only illegal (domestically and internationally — see Rummy’s flight from France to Germany this week), but counterproductive to everything that this nation stands for.
To defeat the ‘terrorists’ the US does not need to invade any other country, kill any more innocent inhabitants of those countries or lie about what it is doing and has been doing since W was appointed President.
Why is the Right so Filled with Stupidity? Why do they hate this nation so much that theywill drag it down in the mud with the very people they claim to hate (ooops, the right doesn’t hate apparently because only Liberals are filled with hate.
whatever. go play with yourself or your male escort. leave the real world to us thinking people.
November 2nd, 2007 at 4:42 pmTP will be remembered as a bunch of nutjob 9/11 truthers who fought the spread of democracy at every turn.
Comment by Liberals Are Filled With Hate — November 2, 2007 @ 3:53 pm
Hey Wackjob, democracy isn’t like peanut butter; you can’t spread it, it has to come at the end of a ballot, not by being forced down the throat by an invading army. And there is no democracy in Iraq, just like there never was in Vietnam, just puppets of the US government.
And, we are the last ones to even think about it outside of our country, as we have lost ours with the BushCo Scumbags and their destruction of America.
But your head is so far up Cheney’s arse, you wouldn’t be able to see that.
November 2nd, 2007 at 4:44 pmFrom CNN
“Two Democrats say they will vote for Bush’s attorney general pick, virtually ensuring the nomination will move to the full Senate.”
November 2nd, 2007 at 4:54 pmFrom CNN
“Two Democrats say they will vote for Bush’s attorney general pick, virtually ensuring the nomination will move to the full Senate.â€
Comment by Chris L — November 2, 2007 @ 4:54 pm
I KNEW that this was going to happen!!!
November 2nd, 2007 at 4:58 pm2 key Dems back attorney general pick
5 minutes ago
Associated Press
WASHINGTON – Sens. Charles Schumer and Dianne Feinstein say they will vote for Attorney General-nominee Michael Mukasey, which likely gives him enough support to pass the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Their decision came shortly after the chairman of the committee, Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., announced he would vote against Mukasey, a former federal judge.
November 2nd, 2007 at 5:07 pmI can see Leahy tail between his legs already. Chicken S.it
November 2nd, 2007 at 6:00 pmComment by Liberals Are Filled With Hate — November 2, 2007 @ 5:06 pm
How did you feel about the incineration of the MOVE compound in Philly?
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:08 pmI’m pretty much filled with dinner. Not hate.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:52 pmDidn’t someone send Anthrax to Leahy?
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:56 pm