Memo To Judge Mukasey: No One Is Asking You To Be Mister Congeniality

And now comes another installation in the seven-year running serialization of that old program, "Ways That Republicans, Conservatives, And Other Bush White House Apologists Justify The Use Of Torture As An Interrogation Method In The War Against Al Qaida."

The Associated Press gives us this charming exchange during the confirmation hearings of Judge Michael Mukasey to serve as America's next Attorney General:

Mukasey, a retired federal judge who ruled in some of the nation's highest-profile terror trials, repeatedly avoided discussing the legality of specific interrogation techniques - including forced nudity, mock executions and simulated drowning known as waterboarding.
To comment would be irresponsible "when there are people who are using coercive techniques and who are being authorized to use coercive techniques," Mukasey said.

"And for me to say something that is going to put their careers or freedom at risk simply because I want to be congenial - I don't think it would be responsible of me to do that," Mukasey said.

No, Judge Mukasey. No one is asking you to be Mister Congeniality. We're asking you to be the Mister who abides by American laws and the standards of basic human decency that our laws are made to embody.

This is an old rhetorical trick that the Bush White House has used in order to justify altering the laws governing our use of force against detained individuals in this war against the terrorists who hit us on 9/11. John Yoo, the infamous government attorney who wrote what became known as the 'Bybee Memo,' used a similar construction to explain why it was he said that an act wasn't torture unless it produced the pain of organ failure or death.

"There was no book at the time you could open and say, 'under American law, this is what torture means,'" a post-governmental Yoo told the Washington Post in 2005.

And it is worth repeating that the United States Government, since it ratified the Convention Against Torture, has submitted periodic reports that make explicitly clear precisely what we consider torture to be within the framework of our laws. Government officials like Yoo and Mukasey have gleefully participated in smudging the line between a society based on laws and one that's based on executive supremacy. But our laws don't work that way. It doesn't matter how unitary and supreme President George W. Bush thinks his executive branch is. He cannot secretly or overtly wipe away the standards established by our courts and our Congress to govern what is and is not torture.

There's always time after a congressional hearing for witnesses to correct the record. Judge Mukasey should submit an updated answer confirming his intention to abide by the laws of this land rather than worrying about what is and isn't congenial.

Comments

[Plowboy]

It may not be a congeneality contest, but Sen. Leahy likes him, hopes he is confirmed. And Sen. Lieberman recognizes him as a bosom buddy. So he won't define torture, but he's agin' it! Ain't that enuff? So he approved of what he saw, why do you think he thought it torture? Ha! So he likes a president to ignore laws he doesn't like, shouldn't he? I'll bet there are a few laws on the books that you would like to see ignored. Besides, he has that special added you-know-what that makes him unassailable. He'll definitely be confirmed.
By the way, TJ, since whern has being corrupt been a political drawback in the US of A?

[AnotherMcIntosh]

"He cannot secretly or overtly wipe away the standards established by our courts and our Congress to govern what is and is not torture."

I wish that you were right.

[fflambeau]

Again, the Democrats have made a huge tactical mistake. Like Pelosi ruling out impeachment just after an election mandate which repudiated the Bush administration, Shumer and other leading Democrats gave this nominee their approval BEFORE the confirmation hearings. The nominee, in fact, was pretty much Shumer's pick (patronage anyone?). So how can you then ask tough questions, how can you get documents that have been subpoenaed--AFTER you have annointed the man? It makes no sense.

The Democrats in Congress need new leadership--let Russ Feingold be the Senate Majority Leader and get rid of the inept Pelosi (I mean, get real, condemning Turkish atrocities a century ago but not willing to do anything about your own countries misdeeds today?).

[TJTelecaster]

I watched his little performance and he's blowing smoke up their asses telling them what they want to hear but leaving the door open for him to violate each and every article in addition to the Constitution...

"The hardest thing is when you have to chose between to rights..Senators..!"

What crap the hardest thing is when you have to choose between two wrongs with no right..!"

This means right there he was telling these Senators that the Bill of Rights and FISA law didn't matter right off and the wiretapping was basically right, it's being against the Law did not apply..

Chertoff picked this guy so you know he's corrupt and a fucking prick not to be trusted..

As I know for real personal experience..!