Democrats Should Have Voted Against Mukasey

[erpowers]

I was always against Mukasey being made the Attorney General because of his unwillingness to call water boarding torture. Now I have another reason for not liking the fact that Mukasey is the Attorney General. It seems that Mukasey believes that the President can nullify the law. I may be wrong but I think that goes against the Constitution. If the President can nullify the law where are the checks and balances? How is there a check on the Presidents abilities?

[endarkenment]

1. Filed under: Sherlock, No Shit. nt.

[mod mom]

2. this was not hidden from those who voted for confirmation.

[mdmc]

3. He was good enough for Chucky

The best the dems can do is be alittle less evil then the GOP

[whistle]

4. That is correct, the democrats should have demanded a thorough investiagation

...and opposed this guy. He lied before the committee, he lied in his swearing in speech and he will go on lying to cover all of BuchCo's crimes.

<snip>
Michael Bernard Mukasey<4> (IPA: /mju.ˈkeɪ.zi/)<5> (born July 28, 1941)<1> is an American lawyer who currently serves as the 81st Attorney General of the United States, filling the vacancy left by Alberto Gonzales. Mukasey had served for 18 years as a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, six of those years as Chief Judge. He has received several awards, most notably the Learned Hand Medal<6> of the Federal Bar Council. Mukasey is the second Jewish U.S. Attorney General.<7>

<deep snip>
Stance on torture
As of November 1, 2007 five senators – Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, Joseph Biden of Delaware, John Kerry of Massachusetts, Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont – had announced their intention to vote against Mukasey's confirmation due to concerns about his stance on torture.<40><41>

Senator Leahy announced on October 31, 2007 that a committee vote on the nomination was scheduled for Tuesday, November 6.<42> The announcement came a day after Mukasey replied via letter to the committee, to questions and requests for clarification.<43> Leahy and the other nine Democratic committee members had indicated the week before, via letter, to Mukasey that they were "deeply troubled by your refusal to state unequivocally that waterboarding is illegal during your confirmation hearing..."<44> By holding an unusual Oval Office meeting with journalists on November 1, 2007, Bush signaled his concern that the nomination, which was previously judged to be a sure bet, was in peril, primarily over what is and is not considered illegal torture.<45> Mukasey has refused to state an unequivocal legal position on the interrogation technique known as waterboarding (in which a prisoner is brought to the brink of death by drowning in order to elicit information), and it appears that he was concerned about the potential pursuit of government employees or agents, and their authorizing superiors in American or foreign courts under criminal charges, when responding to the Senate Judiciary committee questions.<45>

In describing the issue's challenges to the Bush administration, the New York Times quoted Scott L. Silliman, director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security at Duke University as saying about such court cases, which could ultimately reach the president: “You would ask not just who carried it out, but who specifically approved it.” Robert M. Chesney, of Wake Forest University School of Law, and other national security specialists have pointed out that prosecution within the United States, would be impeded by laws adopted since 2005 which permit safe-harbor protections to interrogators for governmentally authorized actions. It is believed that secret Justice Department legal opinions approved waterboarding, and other harsh interrogation techniques.<45>


Relationship with Rudy Giuliani
Michael Mukasey has a close relationship with former mayor Rudy Giuliani, as confirmed by Tony Fratto, a presidential spokesperson.<46> Mukasey and Giuliani have been friends since working at the same law firm in the early 1970s.<47> Mukasey has pledged to recuse himself from cases involving Giuliani. Newspaper reports assumed that Mukasey will further recuse himself from cases involving Bernard Kerik, a former New York City police commissioner under Giuliani, who is under federal investigation for bribery and other offenses. However, neither presidential spokespersons nor Mukasey returned reporters' inquiries into whether Mukasey would recuse himself from the Kerik case.<48><49>


Marc Mukasey and Giuliani campaign
Mukasey's son, Marc Mukasey, has been assigned by Giuliani's campaign to block Kerik's legal defense team from interviewing witnesses that might assist his defense.<50>
<WAY MORE>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Mukasey