The Mukasey snag

Powerline and Captain's Quarters each take a stab at unraveling the objections against Michael Mukasey's nomination for Attorney General.

Mukasey has refused to opine about waterboarding on the ground that he doesn't know what's involved in the technique. But this will not remain a tenable basis for not answering, since it's not difficult to find out what waterboarding entails.

Mukasey should testify that waterboarding is legal in exigent circumstances. Alternatively, he should find another basis for refusing to answer the question.
(Power Line)

Captain Ed's take reminds me of my commentary from a week ago (though certainly not in a plagiaristic kind of way!).

And here is the core of the silliness in this standoff. Here we have Congress, as represented by the Judiciary Committee, demanding that an AG candidate declare a specific act illegal. They have it completely backwards. Congress has the responsibility to pass laws and make the determination of legality and illegality -- and the AG has the responsibility to enforce those laws.
(Captain's Quarters)

Contrast these opinions with that of Robyn Blumner (from her editorial last week):

On the issue of torture, Mukasey's first dance was with the committee chairman, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont. Mukasey condemned torture because that "is not what this country is about," but when asked about particular interrogation practices such as waterboarding, Mukasey refused to call those methods illegal. On hearing Day Two, Mukasey told Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., "If waterboarding is torture, torture is not constitutional."

Notice the big "if."

This is essentially the same tactic used by the president in defending against torture allegations. Bush insists we don't torture, because the pain and suffering we inflict on our prisoners has been defined in the Unabridged Bush Presidency Dictionary as something other than torture. (A little dunk in water, as the vice president might say.) If Mukasey buys into this semantical legerdemain, as he seems to, then he's not worthy of the job.

(St. Petersburg Times)

Blumner takes for granted that Mukasey should regard water boarding as illegal even if there is no law against it.

It is absurd for Mukasey to rule water boarding illegal on his own authority, particularly because (as Ed Morrissey reminded us) the technique is used by the U.S. government on our own soldiers as part of their training.

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