Honoring the Rule of Law (or Not)

The Prez's nomination of Michael Mukasey seemed awash in good feelings shortly after it was announced, but the nominee's inability to come down on whether or not waterboarding is torture seems to have cast a shadow over the whole affair. First of all, it's silly that he can't pin down a yes or no answer. Of course waterboarding is torture. It's been considered torture for decades, and there's really no question about the answer. On the other hand, though, it's completely understandable that Mukasey can't provide that answer. If he answers that it's waterboarding, and if U.S. interrogators have been using the technique (which we don't know for sure, even if the administration is reacting just as you'd expect them to if they were), then if he becomes attorney general, he'd have little choice but to address the illegal behavior. The Bushies have no interest, obviously, in putting an attorney general into office who's going to turn around and prosecute them. (And they've declared that if they don't get Mukasey, then they don't want anybody--he's our only choice.) So we're stuck in this purgatory of vague, mealy-mouthed answers to blunt, obvious questions. We can't say what's against the law and what's not without calling the administration on the carpet.

I think that's also the issue with the telecom immunity. If the telecom companies that helped the administration spy on their customers are held accountable for their actions, shouldn't the administration itself, which encouraged and enabled those companies to do what they did, also be held accountable? But we've got no stomach to hold the Bushies (with approval ratings currently in the mid 20s) accountable for much of anything, so everybody is likely to get a free pass. Recent developments suggest that it won't be completely smooth sailing for Mukasey, but I'd be surprised if the Senate turns back the nomination. More likely is that some Democrats will get to vote no and display their hard line against torture while a reasonably solid majority approves the nomination and Mukasey takes the oath of office. We simply don't have the wherewithal or, it seems, much of a desire, to follow the rule of law these days.