Mukasey debate on the Senate floor; Update 11:26pm Nomination approved, 53-40; Roll call vote added
Update 12:30am Eastern. Here’s the roll. The six Dems who voted for Mukasey are: Bayh, Carper, Feinstein, Landrieu, Nelson (NE), and Schumer, plus independent Lieberman. Oh, and look who was too busy to vote…
Looks like Cornyn was at a fund-raiser in Texas with President Bush.
Update 11:26pm Eastern. Nomination approved, 53-40.
The Democrats who voted for Mukasey want you to know that “yes” doesn’t really mean “yes:”
Republicans were solidly behind President Bush’ nominee. Democrats said their votes were not so much for Mukasey as they were for restoring a leader to a Justice Department left adrift after Gonzales’ resignation in September.
See, this way, when they decide to turn on the nominee they voted for, they can invoke the Schumer defense later on. Remember Schumer’s excuse for voting for SCOTUS justices Alito and Roberts? “I was duped!” Flashback:
U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito “duped” the U.S. Senate into confirming them, a top Democratic lawmaker charged on Friday, days after a key Republican questioned if they had lived up to their promises.
Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, a member of the Judiciary Committee that held hearings on the two, said they staked out moderate positions in congressional testimony but became part of a conservative bloc that issued restrictive rulings on issues from free speech to civil rights.
Schumer, in a speech to the American Constitution Society, talked about the confirmation of Roberts and Alito in 2005 and 2006, respectively.
“Were we duped?” he asked.
“Were we too easily impressed by the charm of nominee Roberts and the erudition of nominee Alito?” Schumer asked. “Did we mistakenly vote our hopes when our fears were more than justified by the ultraconservative records of these two men?”
“Yes,” he said…
Update 10:55pm Eastern. Whopper of the night from Harry Reid: “I was fully prepared to embrace this nomination.”
Update 10:33pm Eastern. Joe Lieberman is on the floor, reiterating his “long knowledge of this good man,” 43 years of friendship since Yale Law School.
***
It’s Thursday night on the Senate floor, and the Mukasey debate is underway. The Swamp’s liveblogging:
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), one of two Democrats on the Judiciary Committee to support Mukasey’s nomination, tonight made an impassioned plea for his confirmation, arguing that the retired Manhattan federal judge is the best Democrats could hope for as a choice to succeed Alberto Gonzales. Feinstein contended that if Mukasey isn’t confirmed, the White House would allow the Justice Department to be run by an interim official for the remained of the administration. “This is the only chance we have,” Feinstein said.
She also noted that Mukasey had nothing to do with crafting the interrogation policies at issue.
“How can this man be the standard bearer for torture?” Feinstein said. “He isn’t. Why is he being treated as such?”
C-SPAN2 is carrying the debate live.
***
Previous Mukasey blogging.
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just tuned in and saw my Senator, oh joy.sheesh. blah blah Boxer.
90 Seconds of waterboarding, spilled the beans and he’s doing jusssst fine now….. this is sickening.
Just turned it on and there is Chucky
Listen Chucky, is he qualified or not? That’s all you have to decide. Now shut the pie hole.
well at least Feinstein is getting it right. nite all.
Chucky, with the way you pulled that Cheney insult out of your A@@ you should teach that to Barny Frank.
Good Night Aj
Oh, boy. If that is not a huge red flag.
Some liberals in charge of the Judiciary committee is like Charley Manson in charge of a parole hearing.
#9 – oh, that one was funny.
It is sad that even the Congress can get caught up with sensationalism instead of, oh, say, the Constitution.
For example, shouldn’t someone be talking about whether the Attorney General has any bearing on the President’s prosecution of a war and the treatment of non-citizens in that due prosecution? Also, since the Attorney General acts at the pleasure of the President, he is not exactly entitled to differ on significant policy issues. I forget the legal term – unitary executive maybe? – but there is a principle under which no one can sue “ministers” because they are only exercising the President’s Constitutional agency.
But it is a lot more politically expedient, I suppose, to discuss something the U.S. has done to at most 3 TERRORISTS WHO COMMITTED ACTS OF HORRIFIC MURDER AGAINST THE UNITED STATES.
Gramnsety swaying side to side is making me sea sick
Doesn’t Sen Sanders have some chicken to go fry up? I think the democrats are playing a game to see how many times they can say waterboarding.
Sen Barking got his “waterboard” in.
michelle,
will you post a link to the roll call vote when it is available?
i just tried searching for it on thomas and i cant find it.
okay, but this is also their excuse for voting in favor of the war — they were duped by the lying President
Not their lying eyes? Because they saw the same intelligence and were warning us about Saddam before Bush was elected.
So. Duped democrat = stupid person = not fit for public office?
Someone tell the Dems Ramsey Clarke was unavailable.
Roll call vote added.
So after all the time they wasted on their Judicial Committee passion play they got their butts handed to them.
After watching some of the hearing quite frankly there were a lot of other questions I would have liked to pose to the nominee but I had to go out on the net to do just plain old research to find out what I wanted to know.
All just political grandstanding for the nutroots and in the process really letting the country down as far a quality oversight.
But where else where you hear that except for some right side bloggers and commentary columns.
Cornyn didn’t vote?
I don’t get it.
Though I understand every other non-vote.
and Bayh, Carper, Feinstein, Landrieu, Nelson (NE), and Schumer can expect the most vile adds possible next time they are up for election…
See my update. Looks like Cornyn was at a fund-raiser in Texas with the president.
Somehow, I don’t think that the netroots that fell for all of the Judiciary Committee will really schedule hearings on impeachment and that the House Dems did not just vote to save Cheney spin will buy into the idea that there just weren’t enough votes to filibuster the nomination. It’s hard to rationalize numbers. It’s either 41 votes or it’s not.
If the GOP doesn’t take back either house in ‘08, then at least the Dems will be stuck with Reid and Pelosi as their leadership again.
Ahhhhh.
Then I suppose that makes sense he’d miss it… But can’t they proxy their vote?
Waking up to good new’s but sure is alot of crapweasels on the nay list and some of their arguments were just ridicules, bunch a mamby pamby’s. and dimes to donuts they dont give a flyin fig about this one issue that they politisized and whined over. Like President Bush said stop listening to the pinko’s and kos’ites and get busy…
non-voters,shame on you again. TB’s
In this electronic age, there should be no reason not to have a set-up for these crapweasels to vote. Voting should be required period, how many now has Obama weaseled out on?
AJ – they are afraid their vote might be hijacked if they didn’t have to give it in person showing proper ID. Just like regular voting which requires proof of citizenship like say – a drivers license which can be gotten only if you are legally in the country.
Oh sorry – musta fallen asleep there, waking up now.
Watching c-span the past 9 months could be considered torture.
geez, and after all of Dudds blathering he didnt vote. These guy’s are too much.
Holy Carp…..dissssssgusting.
Senate was finally able to pass something color me unimpressed due to all the BS and high drama these self absorbed crapweasels put any nominee for a presidential appointment through. Well at least we have a new Attorney General now let the subpoenas fly for those that have continually provided aid and comfort to our enemies. He can start with the leadership of the House and Senate. This just continues to prove Congress needs a cleansing it is way past time to throw the bums out!
This overbloated bag of noxious gas doesnt have a problem looking the other way enforceing laws on the books regarding immigration. What a hypocrite, restore the confidence in the rule of law? that people like him ruined?!!! TBer.
yes boomer “throw em out! now.
The same non-voters on the pork fill water bill (that I now have to pay for) are the same non-voters here. Strangly, once again, Olbama and Shillary did not vote. Nothing like letting people (voters too) know where you do not stand.
*Grunt.hack.spitooy
So, one of my senators, Lamar Alexander, didn’t see fit to vote on a nominee to fill such an important vacancy?
Oh, yes! I forgot. 2008 is election year for Lamar Alexander in Tennessee. He must be hoping to garner some Democrat votes, if Harold Ford, Jr. were to decide to run against him for the Senate in ‘08, like he did the junior Senator that beat Ford in ‘06, Bob Corker.
Alexander has always been a weak Republican and a non-existent conservative.
Why is there not more emphasis on the non-voting record of the candidates who are running for “Leader of the Free World”?
How can any semi-literate voter make a informed decision if you don’t know where the candidates stand?
I would think you would have to have a record for voting on a minimum of 90% of the issues to even be considered to run for president.
How can you serve the citizens of the greatest county on the planet if you are afraid to stand behind your beliefs.
I consider anybody unwilling to take a stand on these issue unfit for the job of President of the United States
As always, I am embarassed by my two wonderful senators from the great state of Washington, who have never been on the “right” side of a vote yet. One day we’ll get rid of King County, and get the state back under control. (Sigh)
Give the government power to torture and abuses become routine.
Certainly men of good will might act extra-legally in extraordinary circumstances. A mercy killing by a spouse of an aged and hopeless cancer victim suffering final agonies might be a good example. But the circumstances should be reviewable by a prosecutor and/or jury to be sure it isn’t just a plain old murder for insurance.
Torture should be a last resort by men of good will. Cheney, Rumsfeld, and the war party in general seems to lean more toward the thuggish side to me, and the president somewhat amoral. Not the kind of people you want running secret torture facilities. Torture should always be illegal, but reviewable in extraordinary cases for mitigating circumstances.