Bush: What will Chuck do?

Posted: Friday, November 02, 2007 9:05 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under: White House, Congress

What will Sen. Chuck Schumer (D) do regarding Mukasey? "Schumer, who has remained uncharacteristically quiet throughout the furor, said in an interview yesterday that he is now ‘wrestling’ with whether to vote against a nomination that he was instrumental in bringing about. He compared the controversy to the 2005 nomination battle over Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. ‘From this administration, we will never get somebody who agrees with us on issues like torture and wiretapping,’ Schumer said at one point, suggesting an argument in favor of Mukasey, who faces a Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Tuesday. ‘The best thing we can hope for is someone who will depoliticize the Justice Department and put rule of law first.’”

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Comments

Torture is torture no matter what and no matter how low it is on a list. If he does not know what methods would constitute torture then do not vote for him. No candidate supporting any type of torture should get the nod period.

Terry, Disabled Vet, Des Moines, IA (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 9:10 AM)

The real torture is having to listen to this blow-hard Schumer from New York. And to think, he's the sane Senator from that state.

Alan Mathews (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 9:12 AM)

Vote thumbs down Chuck!

G (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 9:18 AM)

Waterboarding IS torture. Period. Mukasey doesn't want to say that because it would set up Bush & Co for future criminal charges. Its why George was extra nasty in his speech yesterday. He's on thin ice again. One of these times he's gonna finally fall through.

PJ (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 9:19 AM)

Chuck should give him the choice of being waterboarded or being rejected.

Rufus Gibbons, DC (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 9:20 AM)

Chuck will approve anyone who will not question democrat efforts to steal elections. he would prefer someone who will look away as democrat support groups register felons, the dead and the never have been. They will need to look away when democrats convince some poorly run voting district that they should have the right to play carnac with the votes and decide the intent of the voter (5 for me, 1 for you). Someone who will look away when the “slash the tires” movement prevents elderly voting groups from being bussed to voting stations by groups with opposing viewpoints. Someone who will approve with a wink and a nudge when dems find the judge that will change the previously agreed to voting process…after the votes have been cast.

And now with the state of NY giving drivers licenses to those in the country illegally and then handing them a voter card, Chuck really needs someone in there he can scream "POLITICS" at to divert attention from their slime ball governor.

K., Austin (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 9:29 AM)

I still LOVE George Bush and Larry Craig. They are awesome!

K., Austin (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 9:50 AM)

You still love George Bush? You must be sick. He has all but destroyed this country.

Shirley Royer Columbus OH (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 10:02 AM)

What about hoping for a nominee who will put intregity, honesty, and the highest of moral values on human life, liberty and a deep sense of fair play? No, instead, we have a nominee who does not know if waterboarding is torture, makes me wonder,"what would Jesus do?" I am sure Jesus is proud of all waterboarders and that they will have 21 virgins waiting for them in their heaven.

mikeeg,abdn,wa (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 10:12 AM)

Umm...Shirley, let me help you out here. The second posting by "me" was from the guy down street from you still living with his parents. You probably didn't realize he was there anymore since he sits down in the basement all day. Now you know why Dominoes visits that house so much.

For a lot of us who work for a living, Larry Craig is a repulsive human being and GWB has done quite a bit to hurt this country. Unfortunately he has had a tremendous amount of help from the other side of the political establishment.

K., Austin (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 10:20 AM)

C'mon Chuck, ball up and lose this turkey! At least TRY to make Shrub work harder! Try not to punk out!

Joe Einloth (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 10:33 AM)

Do we want OUR soldiers water boarded? If we are willing to do this to OTHERS, how long will it be before this is an accepted practice. Being a former career military member, I say no. He should not be confirmed until he says one way or the other. The we can get on with water borading GWB.

Mike, UT (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 10:41 AM)

K., in the real world voter fraud has proven to be such a rare issue it's almost nonexistent. There has been some manipulation that falls outside the strict definition of voter fraud, most of it on the GOP side. Witness get out the vote phone banks jammed in New England, handing out flyers claiming that Democrats are Republicans and vice versa in Philadelphia, police roadblock "random checks" outside black precincts in FL and GA, a variety of letters to registered Democrats in different parts of the country suggesting that qualified voters would be arrested at the polls for imaginary violations, voter list purges leaning strongly Democratic in a series of places where the Auditor or Secretary of State is a Republican, grossly inadequate amounts of voting materials and voting booths in predominantly Democratic parts of Ohio, big differences between exit polls and final results wherever Diebold touch screens are used with the winner nearly always being a Republican... That's all I can come up with right now but it's certainly plenty.

John B, Des Moines, IA (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 11:05 AM)

But is backing waterboarding putting the rule of law first? It flies in the face of American behavior for 200+ years before Bush, and it lies in the face of international law. Is our next AG going to put the rule of law first, then?

Class Warrior, D.C. (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 11:07 AM)

Vote NO. Period. No Attorney General would be better than another shill for Bush and Cheney. It's obvious by Mukasey's testimony who's pulling the strings. Bush despises independence and those who do not agree with him and stroke his ego. He's always been a little man looking for a balcony. The Senate should reject this latest backdoor attempt to keep the Justice (?) Dept. as nothing more than an adjunct of the White House.

R.Merrell (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 11:58 AM)

It seems every senators from NY are disaster. What will Chuck do? Go back to the Hedge funds manager for money.

He is another hypocrate we don't need in congress

Bee (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 12:08 PM)

Dear K,
I got your jist, it is hard to relay sarcasm in the written word, perhaps a special symbol for those that have a less than active mind and can't put two and two together. Perhaps three exclamation points and a pound symbol after the sentence will give them a heads up.
Story telling is a true art that is lost on many people, there have been posts by many that can be considered yarns and those that are the screaming out the window bouts of angnst and anger, there are jocksters and quipsters and fact checkers and just plain whack jobs but it is the soup of humanity that we see here and democracy is the cook, great place, beautiful country and basically good people.
As tiny tim sorta said "GOD bless us, every Darn one of us"!

John S. Alexander,Edinboro, PA (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 12:17 PM)

"‘The best thing we can hope for is someone who will depoliticize the Justice Department and put rule of law first.’”

If this is the best they can hope for (and I fear that is probably true) then it is clear Mukasey is not up to that task.

Carrie, Eastern Iowa (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 12:18 PM)

Schumer said we will never get somebody who agrees with us on issues like torture and wiretapping,’ Schumer said at one point
So now we are looking at a "best case" scenerio?
That to me is just idiotic. Also: everyone is focusing on the waterboarding issue-what about wiretapping, freedom of speech, seperation of powers? Those to me are much more critical issues..do not let this guy in and don't let the shrub bully you into it!!

Pam the OC, CA (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 12:33 PM)

R. Merrell, I am with you 100%. We don't need a bad AG, leave the office vacant.

nuanced (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 12:35 PM)

Nice picture of yet another politican, this time Schumer, wagging his finger at us. When's the last time that happened? Wait. Bill telling us he did play with Monica!

Why do you New Yorker's keep electing nut-bags like this guy?

Randi Thomas, Ohio (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 12:42 PM)

I hope Bush keeps his word and we have no attorney general if he does get his guy nominated.Gonzo is all lawyered up and waiting for the fun to begin.

HMT-MI (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 1:30 PM)

Jael, downstate IL (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 1:30 PM)

Would it be a problem to leave the position vacant til the next term? I agree with Schumer, Bush is not going to nominate anyone that is acceptable. Ergo, don't validate any of his nominees. It's time to play hardball.

Jael, downstate IL

Jael,

This is why the "Do-Nothing Congress" label has legs. Bush will just do a recess appointment and let Schumer and his gang of idiots be more irrelevant then they already are.

Jared Bunch, Lexington KY (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 1:54 PM)

"The real torture is having to listen to this blow-hard Schumer from New York. "

No state secrets for you, little girly man.

! (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 1:55 PM)

Mukasey, when he was chief judge in NYC, approved illegal psychiatric experiments on people labeled as sexual psychopaths. If he is made AG, he will participate in the administration's illegal plot to use national secrecy to cover up crimes committed in these experiments.

John Q Public (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 2:33 PM)

Look at today's WSJ. Quotes schumer form 04 backing waterboarding. Bill Clinton said the following:

Look, if the president needed an option, there’s all sorts of things they can do. Let’s take the best case, OK. You picked up someone you know is the No. 2 aide to Osama bin Laden. And you know they have an operation planned for the United States or some European capital in the next three days. And you know this guy knows it. Right, that’s the clearest example. And you think you can only get it out of this guy by shooting him full of some drugs or water-boarding him or otherwise working him over. If they really believed that that scenario is likely to occur, let them come forward with an alternate proposal. We have a system of laws here where nobody should be above the law, and you don’t need blanket advance approval for blanket torture. They can draw a statute much more narrowly, which would permit the president to make a finding in a case like I just outlined, and then that finding could be submitted even if after the fact to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

____
Meanwhile, a bill to ban waterboarding sits in the senate pending actioin. So the Senate hasn't declared waterboarding illegal, but they want Mukasey to? Sounds like they've abdicated their responsibility, again.

Bruce, NV (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 2:47 PM)

Torture is torture no matter what. If Mukasey does not know what methods constitute torture, and is disinterested in finding out before confirmation, then Chuck you will have to swallow hard and vote no. No candidate who supports torture, whether waterboarding or something else, should get a nod from the Senate.

As nobel as your goal has been Chuck, the idea that GWB will "depoliticize the Justice Department and put rule of law first" with Mukasey as Attorney general is a wet dream!

Bite the bullet and vote NO.

Gary, Franklin, WI (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 3:17 PM)

Mukasey has no business heading the InJustice Department. The whole institution under Bush is a complete joke and Mukasey is obviously willing to be the sacrificial lamb and destroy any good standing he might possess in order to curry favor with Bush who is no doubt handing out ration cards for future oil profits to all who willingly stand beside him in travesty. They probably think of themselves as disciples.

It looks as though, no matter how mucked up Justice is in this country, Bush is ready to bring in the Mighty Muck Casey to finish the job.

Mukasey is a disgrace and should be disbarred, as well as rejected.

John Longo, Phoenix, Arizona (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 3:41 PM)

Bruce, NV, they've only abdicated their responsibility because the Repuks keep following the dunce in chief off the cliff!!!!!!!! Meaning if you did not catch it, they can't get the bill passed because of the stinking Repuks.

Terry, Disabled Vet, Des Moines, IA (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 3:58 PM)

considering the war trials after WWII convicted members of the japanese military for waterboarding, it seems to me congress is once again doing nothing...similar to the turkey-armenian issue. i now see why bush kept gonzales on as atty gen...if the ag said waterboarding was torture and illegal, bush & co would/could be arrested for violating the law. maybe even sent to the hague for trial for war crimes or crimes against humanity. theorectially, of course.

sick of politics (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 4:17 PM)

to Jared Bunch: I understand your point. I think Bush has used the recess appointment process more than any other president. Is there any way around that? What are the options?

Jael, downstate IL (Sent Friday, November 02, 2007 4:37 PM)

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