Dodd opposes Mukasey

Posted: Monday, October 29, 2007 5:44 PM by Domenico Montanaro

From NBC's Elissa Davis
Dodd became the first senator to officially speak out against Bush's nominee for Attorney General in a conference call earlier today with reporters. Unlike others, who have complained about Mukasey's ambiguous stance on waterboarding, Dodd said his opposition is over presidential power. The president and the executive branch should not be able to trump statutes as a matter of national security, Dodd said.

"This statement is far more troubling than those on torture,” Dodd said. “As important as those are, this is far more troubling. The suggestion that the President as some penumbra to be above the law is a very troubling statement.” He expressed strong opposition to Mukasey, outlining that if he were to be confirmed, his statement would set the precedent that "any President would be able claim at any time that something was a national security issue; it would open Pandora’s Box,” Dodd said. “This ought to bother everyone. No one is above the law, a first-year law student would know how fundamental this is."

Dodd said presidential power was part of the problem with Alberto Gonzales. Dodd said he hopes both Democrats and Republicans would be as concerned as he is and block Mukasey. Dodd added though that he would not go so far as to filibuster the nomination, which is why he’s raising the issue now, because as far as he knows it is "99 to1."

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Comments

I wonder if Senator Dodd would consider Presidents Lincoln and Wilson to be great? Because their trumping of individual rights was greater than anything in our history.

Bruce, NV (Sent Monday, October 29, 2007 6:08 PM)

I wonder if Senator Dodd would consider Presidents Lincoln and Wilson to be great? Because their trumping of individual rights was greater than anything in our history.

Bruce, NV (Sent Monday, October 29, 2007 6:10 PM)

Bruce, NV: '...I wonder if Senator Dodd would consider Presidents Lincoln and Wilson to be great? Because their trumping of individual rights was greater than anything in our history...'

Bruce, I knew about Lincoln,
I read about Lincoln,
Abraham Lincoln was a hero of mine.....

Geroge Bush is NO Abraham Lincoln !

If you want to compare Bush to another President, try Warren Harding or US Grant or Richard Nixon !!

Sierra, SF (Sent Monday, October 29, 2007 6:19 PM)

Bruce, NV (Sent Monday, October 29, 2007 6:10 PM)

oh please.

*********************************
Re Sen Dodd - I completely agree with him re the major concern being Bush's continued quest for the Imperial Presidency. I am amazed that the good Senator would use the term penumbra. Glad to see that at least one elected official isn't talking down to the public. That being said, the word itself confuses me in this context - I find nothing shadowy at all about Mr. Bush's view of the executive office. He, evidently, feels that Congress exists for the purpose of stenography - writing down exactly what he wants.

Independent, Texas (Sent Monday, October 29, 2007 6:19 PM)

Another good stand by Dodd.
A pity he waited so long to start talking this way.
How long's he been in the Senate ?

Sierra, SF (Sent Monday, October 29, 2007 6:27 PM)

Obama opposes him too. Here's his statement.

"We urgently need an Attorney General who will check the vast and unconstrained executive powers that have been accumulated under the Bush-Cheney Administration. Judge Mukasey has failed to send a clear signal that he understands the legal and moral issues that are at stake for our country, and so I cannot support him.
"No nominee for Attorney General should need a second chance to oppose torture and the unnecessary violation of civil liberties. It's time to stop the political parsing and to close the legal loopholes. Waterboarding is torture, and so are other 'enhanced interrogation techniques' like 'head-slapping' and 'extreme temperatures.' It's time to reclaim our values and reaffirm our Constitution."

RAH....Washington State (Sent Monday, October 29, 2007 6:28 PM)

A filibuster of Mukasey would be perfect !
Let's see if the other candidates support him.
How about a filibuster of any bill giving the telephone companies immunity for breaking the law and violating America privacy rights ?

Sierra, SF (Sent Monday, October 29, 2007 6:29 PM)

Good going Dodd, do not give a shrub appointee a pass. If he's been near shrub he is contaminated and stench , rot and destruction will follow.
Shrub is a failed human and leader, he is the worst impostor in chief ever.
MukASSey should be water boarding shrub to see who can figure out if it is indeed torture!

OPPOSE (Sent Monday, October 29, 2007 7:29 PM)

George Washington refused when people were calling on him to be King. We didn't need a King George then and we certainly don't need a King George now. Our George, Bush, has done his best to pick apart the Constitution and centralize power with the administration. I applaud Senator Dodd.

Pete, Hartford CT (Sent Monday, October 29, 2007 8:07 PM)

Absolutely, 100% correct Senator Dodd. This Administration just doesn't get it: The Constitution. And Republicans who continue to support Bush and his nominee are just as complicit in their disregard of separation of powers. No President, Democrat or Republican, is above the law. The Office of the President is an equal branch of government, not the ONLY branch of government. Deny Mukasey the position of Attorney General. He can't define torture, he doesn't understand the Constitution and will obviously defer to Bush when told to do so. We've already suffered on Alberto too many.

R.Merrell (Sent Monday, October 29, 2007 9:25 PM)

... um, Bruce ... Lincoln had the task of guiding the nation through a calamitous civil war that nearly tore the young nation apart. And, virtually the entire world was at war during Wilson's administration. Tragic as the current debacle in Iraq is, to compare it to what Lincoln and Wilson faced is patently absurd.

John, Delaware Oh (Sent Tuesday, October 30, 2007 8:09 AM)

Because Lincoln used 20th century technology to create war with his own country as well as every other country who has ever said I don't love America? Come on, Bush is a useless tyrant who has completely defecated on every value, moral fiber, and constitutional sentence of the American people.

Travis, Still hates all Republicans (Sent Tuesday, October 30, 2007 8:17 AM)

Any student of American History knows abuse of power by government is not a new concept. Such a revelation does not justify continuation of such practices nor negate the fact that current extensions of power are at odds with the principles this country was founded upon.

Ken Nelson, Barnegat, NJ (Sent Tuesday, October 30, 2007 8:20 AM)

Whew! I am indeed heartened the Democrats are beginning to "get it." Historically, any gnawing little doubts held by our esteemed, Democratic congresspeople have been trumped by some inexplicable internal dialogue where they squelched their doubts and gave waiting Bush servants the benefit of the doubt. (IRoberts, and to some lessser degree, Alito were prime examples of their caving.)

I found that practice to be maddening. Hopefully, that tendency is out and saying "no" when appropriate is in.

Thank you, Senator Dodd.

Barbara Anderson, Houston (Sent Tuesday, October 30, 2007 9:04 AM)

Sounds like Mukassey will just rubberstamp all of Bush's human rights abuses. Better get another nominee!

Class Warrior, D.C. (Sent Tuesday, October 30, 2007 9:52 AM)

Dodd would oppose his mother for the job of homemaker.

TC n AZ (Sent Tuesday, October 30, 2007 10:10 AM)

Waterboarding should be standard procedure for all confirmation hearings until the administration repudiates and stops torturing.

nuanced (Sent Tuesday, October 30, 2007 11:20 AM)

Amazing how ignorant of history the Bush hatred-deranged are. Even when pointed out, they ignore it.

Nuanced, did you know that FDR had german spies (including an american citizen)executed within six weeks of capture, with only a military commission passing sentence.

Not saying that Bush is right or wrong, just that you buffoons who say "Bush is the worst ever" need to read about Wilson's suspension of the Bill of Rights, including prior restraint.

A little knowledge would go a long way to make your Quixotic quest seem less like foaming at the mouth and more like something noble.

Cheers.

Bruce, NV (Sent Tuesday, October 30, 2007 12:12 PM)

Thanks Bruce for the "other people have done it too" perspective. It didn't work growing up when I tried it with my parents; did it work for you?

Andrew Jackson may be the worst ever for his genocidal policies toward the native americans but that doesn't mean I should give Bush a pass if he engages in genocide.

FDR was wrong; what's your point?

Does anything you say have a point other than to justify bad behavior of "your guys".

Very rarely it happens that there is a need for a necessary evil; it doesn't make it any less evil and it is almost never necessary. Some people are too quick to justify cutting corners off the constitution out of laziness, fear or evil intent.

nuanced (Sent Tuesday, October 30, 2007 12:40 PM)

Actually, John, the "entire world" wasn't at war. A few European empires were, but Wilson wanted to "export democracy" (sound familiar), and virtually forced the US in, when we had nothing at stake. A forged document, "The Zimmerman Telegram" was the pretext for war. The sedition act enable him to direct the postmaster general to deny mail delivery to dissidents; it forbade americans from using language critical of the US government. Eugene Debs was imprisoned for violating it, along with 1000s of anti-war protestors. Has Bush done that?

Lincoln suspended habeas corpus (and not just for "foreign combatants", invented war powers for the presidency, and imprisoned "sympathizers" without trial for the duration of the war.

Now, the sufferers of BSD can claim that Bush has trod upon the constitution, but the fact that they are here, free to bitch about him and the war, proves that he's done nothing of the kind, at least not to the degree that Lincoln, Wilson and FDR did.

Bruce, NV (Sent Tuesday, October 30, 2007 12:49 PM)

My point, ironically-named one who wouldn't know a nuance if it bit him on the ass, is that while you and your buddies run around here posting your talking points about Bush being worst ever, trampling the constitution, etc., is that if you knew what you were talking about you'd look less stupid and might actually win some converts to your point of view.

Instead, you regurgitate nonsense without having any historical basis to know whether it is true or not.

Bruce, NV (Sent Tuesday, October 30, 2007 3:26 PM)

Bruce, NV: We don't know what Bush has done or will do because he routinely hides behind "executive priviledge" and continually fails to abide by the 1978 Presidential Records Act. We should be moving forward in our pursuit of democracy, which Bush continues to lecture the rest of the world about. Unfortunately, this President and those in his Administration abhore open government here in the U.S. and instead prefer to keep everything they do, secret. Citing past President's actions hardly justifies Bush's attempt to greatly expand executive power. If we wanted that type of government, there are plenty of models around the world. But our Constitution defines the powers of each branch of government and Bush and Dick Cheney see the offices they hold as imperial. They use "signing statements" as a way to disregard any part of a law with which they don't agree and have no intention of enforcing. It's the ultimate use of cherry picking. And cherry picking compliance with the Constitution and the rule of law is hardly in keeping with conservatives oft stated strict interpretation of that very same Constitution.

R.Merrell (Sent Tuesday, October 30, 2007 4:57 PM)

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