Then it's time for a Senate Democrat to put a hold on this nomination and if necessary, filibuster it. Anything less equals approval of torture.

Of course!

I've just sent in my thoughts to Feinstein, and have told her she's lost me for good.

What the hell is it going to take to get these idiot Democrats to actually play the same game that the Republicans are playing? My God!

This is an extremely difficult decision,” Schumer said in a statement, adding that Mukasey “is not my ideal choice.”

Ummmm, not my ideal choice, extremely difficult decision....oh what hell let's err on the side of compromise, we are only talking about habeas corpus and torture here.

CD @ 1:

Ok someone provide a link to the petition telling Feinstein not to do this.

I'll sign it ASAP.

Why NOT Schumer ??! Also the AIPAC agent.

I am sick of these yellowbacks and their refusal to stand up to the naked boy king!!!

I think it's quite obvious that AIPAC, in their Israel over America agenda are responsible for "persuading" these politicians to vote against America's best interest.
AIPAC is a right wing Jewish lobbying group, so naturally they think arabs and muslims are lower than rats, lice, bed bugs, and horseshit. Therefore it comes as no surprise that they'd want someone who supports torture holding this office.

Cleanse ye selves. Register Independent. Value your own vote and vote your conscience. Anything else is lying to one's self.
Peace.

Feinstein the first to cave? Does anybody else feel like they're Bill Murray in Groundhog Day?

[deleted - please stick to the topic.]

#15 joe cantwell - Bravo! Bravo!

Oh and btw folks, this came a day after Bush "Stood Strong against Democrats"(Fox's words).

Piren @ 17:

JasonS @ 11:

Does anyone really think we'll get a better candidate than this out of the Bushies? You ain't never gonna get a candidate who says "waterboarding is torture and I will aggressively prosecute any American official who conducts or authorizes this or any other such technique."

Bush will never, ever, ever give you that. So, the question is, do you want to see a parade of increasingly neanderthal bible-pounding uber-patriots over the next year?

Which is to say that this is likely to be the best AG we can get, not to say that he's acceptable.

The dems could grow a collective spine and not let any of these unacceptable uber-patriots ever get out of committee. Oh, wait. What was I thinking?

they don't read this blog. they do read their e-mails. let them know!

http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/

In a pig's ass Feinstein "caved". I'd have been shocked had she opposed the SOB.

I'm a native San Franciscan. Not all that long ago, I felt a genuine regard for Dianne. She had always been too damn conservative by my lights, but I respected her. No longer. She personifies the underbelly of a corrupted party. She is no damn good.

I've been trying to call Feinstein's office for 5 minutes, the line is BUSY. Either she's being flooded with calls about this, or they took their phones off the hooks.

LongTooth @ 26:

In a pig's ass Feinstein "caved". I'd have been shocked had she opposed the SOB.

I'm a native San Franciscan. Not all that long ago, I felt a genuine regard for Dianne. She had always been too damn conservative by my lights, but I respected her. No longer. She personifies the underbelly of a corrupted party. She is no damn good.

she's not royalty. she can be beaten in an election by disgruntled voters. let her know that!

http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/

I posted this on the Jon Stewart tread, but would like to repeat it. I sent this e-mail to Senator Isabela:

Well, there you are Sen. Feinsteing, enabling torturing of people just like was done to "heretics" during the Inquisition. Who do you fancy yourself to be? Torquemada? No, well, maybe Isabella, running the Moors and Jews out of Spain if they don't convert. Yes, that's it, Senator Diane Isabella, (D.-Spain).

What would it take to get people to vote out these creeps Shumer and Feinstein? Judging by the last election in Connecticut, it's not likely to happen. There is no one on "our side." Only bad guys. What new hell will we face because of these betrayals.

The problem is, this war on terror has never been adequately defined. The entire planet can be viewed/defined as "on the battlefield", given the nature of the "conflict". Further to that, without definiton, this "war" may (will) go on forever (forseeable future): how/when does it end? So anyone, from any country, anywhere on the planet, may be plucked from the streets and detained indefinitely by the president of the United States.

I'd say that's a helluva lotta power to accord oneself. Where does any governement come off making such a declaration: it's not just about American citizens!!!!!

Ok, fine... I coudn't get thru to DiFI in DC or California by phone, so I sent her a little email... The short version; I informed her that should she cave on this, I'm done with her... She will NEVER get my vote for anything ever again......Probably doesn't give a rats ass, but I told her anyway... This is totally disgusting... Fuck it, I don't even want to rant about it.....JD

Spineless.

Cowards.

PNAAC Minister @ 37:

KKKarl was right about a permanent repug majority, I just didn't realize that the dems were part of it!

Yes its true! They are beholden to the same corporations and lobby groups. I believe Mussolini's Fascist Italy was described as syndicalist, run by the corporate and family oligarchy. We have just dressed our version up in a veneer of representative government.

I expected nothing less from these 2. These people are completely tone deaf. Nice job capitulating again to a president with an approval rating in the 20's. Punks.

Goddamn pussy democrats. Disgusting.

Gee, what a surprise!

Follow the money......

LongTooth @ 26:

In a pig's ass Feinstein "caved". I'd have been shocked had she opposed the SOB.

I'm a native San Franciscan. Not all that long ago, I felt a genuine regard for Dianne. She had always been too damn conservative by my lights, but I respected her. No longer. She personifies the underbelly of a corrupted party. She is no damn good.

How is it that Friscans support Pelosi and Feinstein? I'd support your candidacy. Right after you register Indy.
Peace.

Piren @ 17:

JasonS @ 11:

Does anyone really think we'll get a better candidate than this out of the Bushies? You ain't never gonna get a candidate who says "waterboarding is torture and I will aggressively prosecute any American official who conducts or authorizes this or any other such technique."

Bush will never, ever, ever give you that. So, the question is, do you want to see a parade of increasingly neanderthal bible-pounding uber-patriots over the next year?

Which is to say that this is likely to be the best AG we can get, not to say that he's acceptable.

The dems could grow a collective spine and not let any of these unacceptable uber-patriots ever get out of committee. Oh, wait. What was I thinking?

I agree. There's absolutely no reason to confirm someone who "isn't sure" whether waterboarding is torture. Let the substitute AG finish out chimpy's term.

In his written responses to questions from Senate Democrats regarding waterboarding and other issues, Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey almost exactlty regurgitated Alberto Gonzales' 2005 assertion to Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) that "what we're really discussing is a hypothetical situation."

For the details, see:
"Mukasey Now and Gonzales Then: Discussions of Torture 'Hypothetical.'"

Lulz, cave? I EXPECTED them to vote for Puke-asey.

Jesus, didn't see that coming. This is why republicans always win. They deserve to win. At least the have the courage of their convictions, bathshit crazy though they may be.

These people got put in place to stand up to Bush? What a complete joke.

Daniel @ 47:

I just sent this to Feinstein. Copy and use it if you'd like.

Dear Senator Feinstein,

I just read that you will be voting to confirm the Judge Mukasey for the AG position. As a loyal and contributing Democrat I cannot begin to convey the serious disappointment I feel right now. You have squandered the edict presented to you and the entire party last November and your willingness to confirm a man who doesnt even know what is involved in waterboarding (let alone willing to examine his position on it before facing a confirmation hearing) dismays me horribly. We faced down a man with no scruples, no morals, and no memory, in AG Alberto Gonzales. Now you are willing to put someone in charge of the Justice Department who seems willing to continue ignoring the constitution and traditions of this country in order to appease his soon departing boss.

I realize that this congress has worked harder than any other to put forth a new plan. I realize that you have been trying. I realize that you want what is best for the country, but you keep backing down to a man with a %24 approval rating. There has never been a President so weak, and in a lame duck position, and yet despite controlling congress our party is not actually in power. Please stop the bleeding and do not vote to confirm Judge Mukasey as the new Attorney General. I am a loyal Democrat, are you?

bravo! send more messages like this one! they will listen, they want to get re-elected.

Del Capslock Says:
Of all of the things they could have come together and opposed, this wasn’t exactly at the top of the pile.

Which, of course, highlights the necessity of standing up for the small stuff at the beginning, so you're not put in the position of having to grow a spine way down the road.

Something the DNC "go along to get along" apologists really, really, really, fucking really, need to learn.

I play poker. When someone bluffs into you chronically, it's often worth a bad bet or six, to push back at him, and here's the point, JUST TO SHOW YOU CAN'T BE BULLIED.

Or, at least, it's expensive to try.

In the prisoner's dilemma, it has been shown that the best overall policy is to trust by default but punish cheaters harshly, even when it costs you to do so. Investing in retaliation leads to less need for retaliation.

Capitulating on the basis of maybe, someday, you'll get to be the bully is flat out weasely and evil. It's endorsing a game you should inherently oppose, even if forced to play.

Great Frybread King @ 41:

This is why the Chimp throws temper tantrums. He knows there are enough gutless Dems that will cave each time he brings out the 9/11 card.

That's exactly why. Chimpy does it because he knows it will work every time. He's like a 5 year old brat who has his parents wrapped around his little finger. He stomps his feet, holds his breath....and gets exactly what he wants.

The Dems have lived up to....or down to...everything the GOP has labeled them: Gutless. Wishy-washy. And soft.

On that, the GOP and I agree 100%.

BTW, I can't wait to receive my next mailer from the Dems looking for money...I'm running out of toilet paper.

Just called Feinstein's SF office. Took forever to get through (good!), finally got put on hold and then spoke to a young fellow who took umbrage at my "What the fuck?" message for the senator replied "I don't appreciate having to hear language like that". My response was "I don't appreciate my senator voting to give away the Constitution of the United States." that brought a "If I can have your zip code, I will pass your message on to the Senator right away".

Damn little wimps, will probably be snivling about the uncouth language all the while the secret police are rounding us up and sending us to the re-education camps.

Dear God, please send up politicians who take seriously their vow to defend and uphold the constitution and who have enough backbone to stand up to a president with the lowest approval rating in history. (Can't be that hard, can it?)

OK, folks, I'm going to ask you this ONE MORE TIME! Who can tell me what the difference is between having a Democratically-controlled Congress that gives Bush everything he wants as opposed to a Republican-controlled Congress that gives Bush everything he wants? And please don't give me any of that bullshit about oversight, since the White House simply ignores any congressional subpoenas and the pussy Democrats never follow up with any inherent contempt citations. And also don't even mention ENDA and SCHIP, because these are NOTHING compared to a Democratically-controlled Congress voting for an AG that endorses torture, which basically translates to the image that the United States endorses torture, which I honestly thought I would never hear in my lifetime and that, I suppose, shows what a fool I was for believing the Dems I voted for would follow the rule of law and also do the work that we elected them to do. What an idiot I was! I should have just stayed home in November of 2006, because it made no difference. I suppose next they'll grant immunity to the telecoms, too. What a bunch of traitors, to both their party and to the ideals of their country, especially Feinstein. Let the goddamned Rethugs take over the Congress and the White House in 2008, because I am now convinced that this country is screwed rude. We have become exactly what Osama wanted us to become - a quivering mass of chicken-hearted cowards who would rather piss all over the Constitution than fight for the country I once loved.

I just sent this to Senators Shumer and Feinstein:

Senator,

I am writing to express my disgust and disappointment in your recently announced decision to support a nominee for AG who is deliberately obtuse on the subject of a form of torture known as waterboarding. As a former officer in the U.S. Army I was comforted by the knowledge that this country adhered to the Geneva Conventions, increasing the chances that I would be treated humanely if I fell into enemy hands. Unfortunately our brave men and women currently serving in uniform have been compromised in that regard by your willingness to support an enabler of torture.
I have been a lifelong Democrat, but this is the final straw. I will no longer support a Democratic party that allows the dismantling of our Constitutional rights and dragging through the mud of our nations dignity. I will never again vote for any member of your (no longer our) party in any election at the national, state, or local level. You have helped accomplish something that I never could have conceived of; today I am ashamed to be a Democrat and ashamed to be a citizen of this country, a country that condones torture.
For that, shame on you.

Shumer and Feinstein had a choice - they sided with the torturers

If y'all would stop watching MSNBC, CNN, etc. and [deleted] and read wsws.org, you would've known that they predicted this years ago. They said that the democrats would cave from a position of strength instead of a position of weakness.
And it's been happening over & over & over & over again.

JasonS @ 64:

Capitulating on the basis of maybe, someday, you'll get to be the bully is flat out weasely and evil. It's endorsing a game you should inherently oppose, even if forced to play.

As they have shown since 2006 the Dems don't even get the testicular (or ovarian whatever their gender may be) fortitude to be the bully when it is their turn to regulate.

They are just appeasers with the only goal of appeasement itself, no ulterior motives... which is the sad part.

There is no guy in the shadows wanting to take over when the big bully tires of beating the crap out of the small dudes in the school yard. But rather the dems are akin to an abused wife, who enables and makes apologies for her husband. All in a bane attempt hoping that somehow he will forget about tonight's beating. And the stupid bitch is too stupid that she should have ran away eons ago, because the only thing her husband is proficient about is the nightly beating, which comes like clockwork every day on the dot for the past 7 years.

Stockholm syndrome doesn't even begin to capture the idiocy of the Democrats.

L.A. Confidential @ 61:

I wonder if Feinstein and Schumer received large packages stuffed with K-Notes.

Maybe.

Schumer: "I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll ................... give in."

Feinstein has received scrutiny for husband Richard Blum's extensive business dealings with China and her past votes on trade issues with the country. Critics have argued that Feinstein's support of policies that may benefit her husband may raise the appearance of a conflict of interest.[5] Suburban newspaper Metroactive has written in 2007 that Feinstein's husband holds large investments in companies that won large government contracts — without competitive bidding. In April 2007, Feinstein's office denied there was a conflict of interest and stated that her departure from the subcommittee had nothing to do with the reports in the Metro weeklies.

As of December 2006, according to SEC filings and Fedspending. Org, three corporations in which Blum's financial entities own a total of $1 billion in stock won considerable favor from the budgets of the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Boing!