Posted by Damozel | Justice is meant to be blind, but not deaf (or dumb). Thirty-nine Democrats voted against Michael Mukasey; six voted with 46 Republicans and "one independent" (guess who?) to confirm him. (NYT via Memeorandum) Senator Patrick Leahy, whose recent statement about Mukasey's nomination sums up every concern of this Democrat, said:
“I am not going to aid and abet the confirmation contortions of this administration,” said Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and chairman of the Judiciary Committee. “I do not vote to allow torture.” (NYT)
Who were these six Democrats who stuck their fingers in their ears and sang "LALALALALA" while the other Senate Democrats were hearing with ever-increasing consternation the responses of the nominee whom so many Democrats (yours truly, for example) initially thought would bring "welcome change to the Justice Department" (NYT)? Charles E. Schumer of New York of course and Diane Feinstein of California (NYT) Also---naturally---Joe Lieberman (the "one independent"). What about the other four?
I was all for him at first, actually, cavalierly disregarding the concerns expressed by Dan Froomkin and my colleague, D Cupples out of my (increasingly hopeless ) desire for cooperation between moderates in Congress. But that was before I began reading up on him myself, when I began to have a few doubts. Those doubts were somewhat alleviated when he said during the hearings that torture is "antithetical to what America stands for." But then...well, you know the rest. And while I'm rarely certain about anything, I'm certain of where I stand on waterboarding and fairly certain of where I stand on having another attorney general who will further enable our "unitary executive."
Here's the roll call, according to the senate website.
Here are the YEAS:
| llard (R-CO) Barrasso (R-WY) Bayh (D-IN) Bennett (R-UT) Bond (R-MO) Brownback (R-KS) Bunning (R-KY) Burr (R-NC) Carper (D-DE) Chambliss (R-GA) Coburn (R-OK) Cochran (R-MS) Coleman (R-MN) Collins (R-ME) Corker (R-TN) Craig (R-ID) Crapo (R-ID) DeMint (R-SC) |
Dole (R-NC) Domenici (R-NM) Ensign (R-NV) Enzi (R-WY) Feinstein (D-CA) Graham (R-SC) Grassley (R-IA) Gregg (R-NH) Hagel (R-NE) Hatch (R-UT) Hutchison (R-TX) Inhofe (R-OK) Isakson (R-GA) Kyl (R-AZ) Landrieu (D-LA) Lieberman (ID-CT) Lott (R-MS) Lugar (R-IN) |
Martinez (R-FL) McConnell (R-KY) Murkowski (R-AK) Nelson (D-NE) Roberts (R-KS) Schumer (D-NY) Sessions (R-AL) Shelby (R-AL) Smith (R-OR) Snowe (R-ME) Specter (R-PA) Stevens (R-AK) Sununu (R-NH) Thune (R-SD) Vitter (R-LA) Voinovich (R-OH) Warner (R-VA) |
Here are the NAYS:
| NAYs ---40 | ||
| Akaka (D-HI) Baucus (D-MT) Bingaman (D-NM) Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH) Byrd (D-WV) Cantwell (D-WA) Cardin (D-MD) Casey (D-PA) Conrad (D-ND) Dorgan (D-ND) Durbin (D-IL) Feingold (D-WI) Harkin (D-IA) |
Inouye (D-HI) Johnson (D-SD) Kennedy (D-MA) Kerry (D-MA) Klobuchar (D-MN) Kohl (D-WI) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) Lincoln (D-AR) McCaskill (D-MO) Menendez (D-NJ) Mikulski (D-MD) Murray (D-WA) |
Nelson (D-FL) Pryor (D-AR) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Rockefeller (D-WV) Salazar (D-CO) Sanders (I-VT) Stabenow (D-MI) Tester (D-MT) Webb (D-VA) Whitehouse (D-RI) Wyden (D-OR) |
And here are the seven who didn't vote:
| Alexander (R-TN) Biden (D-DE) Clinton (D-NY) |
Cornyn (R-TX) Dodd (D-CT) McCain (R-AZ) |
Obama (D-IL) |
I trust that the votes of Senators Bayh, Carper, Feinstein, Landrieu, Nelson (not Florida's one, thankfully), and Schumer will be pleasing to their constituents.
Can the rest of us join together for a liberal round of very slow clapping?
Catch the glee, the jeering, and the melancholy at Memeorandum. including Unqualified Offerings, DownWithTyranny! , The Agonist, Corrente, michellemalkin.com, Three Wise Men, Wake up America and Blue Crab Boulevard
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