Congressional Realpolitik
Posted by MEC on November 6, 2007
The Senate Judiciary Panel has approved Michael Mukasey’s nomination to be Attorney General.
The 11-8 vote came only after two key Democrats accepted his assurance to enforce any law Congress might enact against waterboarding.
I don’t believe Mukasey’s assurances that if he had to choose between enforcing the law and enabling Bush’s policies, he’d enforce the law. If he were at all inclined to independence, Bush wouldn’t have nominated him.
But I have to agree with Senator Feinstein:
Feinstein, D-Calif., said her vote for Muksaey’s confirmation came down in part to practicality. If Mukasey’s nomination were killed, she said, Bush would install an acting attorney general not subject to Senate confirmation and make recess appointments to fill nearly a dozen other empty jobs at the top of Justice.
Now it’s up to Congress to call Mukasey’s bluff and enact a law specifically outlawing waterboarding.
3 Responses to “Congressional Realpolitik”
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Phoenix Woman said
That’s what Ted Kennedy is proposing right now.
earlofhuntingdon said
No. As Sen. Kennedy said in his statement earlier today, “Water boarding. Is. Already. Illegal.”
We do not need another statute, which would imply that water boarding prior to its implementation was somehow legal. We need a Congress that demands the enforcement of existing laws and willing to assert its right to investigate the administration’s persistent wrongdoing. Without that, another statute would gather dust with all the others. When an administration so blatantly ignores its obligations under existing laws, it effectively repeals those laws without veto or legislation.
Phoenix Woman said
Kennedy’s also sponsoring a measure that specifically outlaws waterboarding: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/11/after_confirmin.php