16 October 2007
Bush says ‘This government does not torture’ yet former Attorney General Gonzalez authorized torture techniques like freezing temperatures and simulated drownings, known as waterboarding and slaps to the head. Sure sounds like torture to me. Michael Mukasey a retired federal judge, the new nominee for attorney general, will face some tough questioning during confirmations hearings tomorrow. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, stated that “we need somebody to clean up the Department of Justice”. The consensus is that Mukasey will pass muster. During the hearings Mukasey will be asked about his views on the use of torture.
Democratic senators will also demand that the Justice Department will operate independently of White House political operatives. It is said that Mukasey is a man who is not willing to give up his independence to anybody — not to either political party, not to a president. That’s the kind of guy that we need as attorney general. Another issue, the administration’s no-warrant wiretapping program is also expected to be questioned. Since the president did not comply with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act there has never been a judicial determination about whether he was justified in allowing warrentless wire tapping. Let’s hope that we get a more honorable attorney general this time.
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