Mukasey/Torture Confirmation Vote Tuesday-if ONE dem votes yes, he's in.

[spanone]

snip.....Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) announced today that the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote Tuesday on attorney general nominee Michael B. Mukasey, whose confirmation has been complicated by his repeated refusal to declare that an interrogation tactic that uses simulated drowning constitutes illegal torture.

The announcement from Leahy comes a day after Mukasey wrote a letter to the committee saying that while he considers waterboarding "repugnant," he does not know whether the technique violates U.S. laws against torture.


Nine of the 10 Democrats on the Judiciary committee have not signaled how they intend to vote, with only Sen. Joseph Biden (Del.), saying he will oppose the nomination. But the committee's nine Republicans appear to be uniting in favor of Mukasey, suggesting that he would need only one Democratic vote to win the panel's approval.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/31/AR2007103101601.html?hpid=topnews

[LSparkle]

1. Oh geez, is Joe-mentum on that committee?

[spanone]

3. no here's the list

Patrick J. Leahy
CHAIRMAN, D-VERMONT


Edward M. Kennedy
D-MASSACHUSETTS
Arlen Specter
RANKING MEMBER, R-PENNSYLVANIA
Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
D-DELAWARE
Orrin G. Hatch
R-UTAH
Herb Kohl
D-WISCONSIN
Charles E. Grassley
R-IOWA
Dianne Feinstein
D-CALIFORNIA
Jon Kyl
R-ARIZONA
Russell D. Feingold
D-WISCONSIN
Jeff Sessions
R-ALABAMA
Charles E. Schumer
D-NEW YORK
Lindsey Graham
R-SOUTH CAROLINA
Richard J. Durbin
D-ILLINOIS
John Cornyn
R-TEXAS
Benjamin L. Cardin
D-MARYLAND
Sam Brownback
R-KANSAS
Sheldon Whitehouse
D-RHODE ISLAND
Tom Coburn
R-OKLAHOMA

[LSparkle]

5. PHEW! Now I just have to call DiFi's office and make sure she doesn't cave

[aquart]

7. Well, good luck with that.

[in_cog_ni_to]

4. NO. He's not. n/t

[in_cog_ni_to]

2. I heard today that Schumer is still voting yes.

This should not even make it out of the JC. I wonder how Feinstein will vote? It sounds like they Specter and Graham will vote no, but you can never trust what repukes will do..

[spanone]

6. i can't believe schumer could vote for this guy...it's a vote for torture.

[Disturbed]

10. The CIA announced that they will no longer Water Board.

This means that they were using it. How may "Detainees" did the CIA Water Board? The reason Mukasey refuses to call it Torture is that if he did so, all the people that employed it & those that signed off on the use would have to be prosecuted. Water Boarding was considered Torture & a War Crime during and after WW2. People were prosecuted for committing War Crimes that did use it on Prisoners.

[Krashkopf]

8. Not being Alberto Gonzales is NOT Enough

The only thing that Judge Mukasey has going for him is that he is NOT Alberto Gonzales . . . and that is NOT good enough for me.

In light of Mukasey's refusal to state, unequivocally, that water-boarding is "torture," and, in light of his seeming endorsement of "Unitary Executive" theory (which is just a fancy, legalistic, way to justify fascist authoritarianism), Judge Mukasey is not qualified (legally, or morally) to be the nation's top law ENFORCEMENT officer.

Kudos to Joe Biden for taking the lead on rejecting this nomination. It is time for the other 9 D's on the Committee to follow suit.

Krash

[Richard Steele]

11. Well stated, Krashkopf. And, welcome to DU!

:hi:

[soothsayer]

9. He's as good as in.