New Attorney General Just Like The Old One....

If the Democrats actually vote to confirm this schmuck, it will serve to really drive home the point that they are just really another wing of the Republican Party. What good is majority control of Congress if you continue to let people like this represent our government?


Mukasey repeatedly demurred when asked whether an interrogation technique that involves simulated drowning, known as waterboarding, constitutes torture and is therefore illegal. "I don't know what's involved in the technique," Mukasey said.

"That's a massive hedge," responded Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). "I mean, it either is or it isn't." Mukasey never directly answered the question.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto defended Mukasey, saying he "is not in a position to discuss interrogation techniques, which are necessarily classified," because he was not briefed on such programs.

Waterboarding generally involves strapping the prisoner to a hard surface, covering his face or mouth with a cloth, and pouring water over his face to create the sensation of drowning, according to human rights groups. The practice has been prosecuted as torture in U.S. military courts since the Spanish-American War.

U.S. intelligence sources have said the tactic was used by the CIA during interrogations of the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, and several others.

"The United States' chief law enforcement officer should be able to say -- without hesitation -- that strapping someone to a board, stuffing a rag in his mouth, and pouring water over his head so he fears drowning is torture," Jennifer Daskal, senior counterterrorism counsel for Human Rights Watch, said in a statement after Mukasey's testimony.

While Whitehouse and several other Democrats said Mukasey's new answers were disappointing, they did not indicate that they will oppose his confirmation. A committee vote on Mukasey's nomination could occur as early as next Thursday, with a full Senate confirmation vote likely by the end of the month.