VIDEO of sen. patrick leahy -- on november 2, 2007 -- reasons for voting "no" on mukasey nomination

another new "nightly nolo",
this time, setting about one
minute, ten seconds of the audio
from yesterday afternoon's press con-
ference, in burlington, vermont,
to relevant archival video and
stills -- as senator patrick
leahy makes plain why he cannot
support michael mukasey's nom-
ination to be the next united
states attorney general -- dis-
tilled to a few words:

t o r t u r e

is unlawful.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Liberality said...

If this guy Muskasey doesn't want to admit that waterboarding is torture because he does not have enough infomation I have a suggestion: why not have him undergo this procedure so that he can learn about it firsthand for himself? I am sure that he would then see this practice for what it truly is: TORTURE! Don't you think that would give him "enough" information on which to base a decision?

November 3, 2007 10:08 PM

~~~~~~~~~~~~
nolo said...

yes -- you are, of course, right
on the money, lib! at 19 october,
thought he was just expressing a
very-careful lawyer's and
jurist's, circumspect perspective.

but the more i've thought it all
through, and the longer he persists,
it has become clearer to me:

he is worried about cheney and
bush being charged with war crimes
[especially in europe, or the u.n.],
for explicitly endorsing a
procedure teddy roosevelt, and
richard nixon, considered to be. . .

t o r t u r e.

this attempt to provide legal
"cover" for the administration
is inappropriate -- for a jurist,
for any united states attorney
general -- but NOT inappropriate
for a PRIVATE lawyer, retained to
represent the white house.

and that is the fundamental
problem with him: it seems he
has sworn some secret allegiance.

that cannot be supported -- but
i still worry about the rank-and-
file at justice, without any
protection for the next 20 or
so months. . .

p e a c e

-- nolo

November 4, 2007 8:21 AM